laser legality
I did some more research about this. CT is essentially correct about its claims as they use Class IIIa lasers which are limited by law to 5mw. They are not completely correct as one CAN own more powerful lasers legally.
Class IIIb lasers, up to 500mW, are also legal to own and use but that use is strictly limited.
Note: "There is a class of lasers, IIIa, which by law must be less than 5mW (of measured optical output, not electrical input). This class is legal to sell in the United States, and legal to operate outside in the United States (local or state exceptions may exist) provided you don't do anything stupid. Shining the laser at aircraft in flight, or moving cars, or other equally retarded acts can easily land you in prison for an extended time (and rightly so). Apparently a man who wanted to see if he could hit airplanes as they were landing was in fact successful. Thankfully, none of the pilots crashed, but the man was reported to have received a seven year prison sentence.
The next higher class, IIIb ranges from 5 to 500 mW. You can also legally purchase this class of laser in the United States. But there are restrictions on it's use, because these lasers are capable of permanently damaging vision. You can't use it in an environment where the beam could escape to the outside. To be explicit here, this means you can't legally use them outside. Now you may want to adopt a "no blood, no foul" attitude, and that's fine for you. But just know that if you ever make a mistake, or run into a narrow-minded individual, you don't have a legal leg to stand on - prepare for a good screwing."
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~fine/opinions/z-bolt-6plus.html
In addition: "These Laser Pointers Are Too Wicked
Earlier this week, I began running an ad purchased by Wicked Lasers, a company that sells 15 to 300 milliwatt laser pointers with some pretty grandiose claims:
Used by the US Army! Slash, Cut Tape, Pop Balloons, Ignite Matches, Light Cigarettes, Sizzle Plastic, and Start Fires. Powered by a Sony diode.
Another blogger who runs their ads bought a laser and calls them insanely powerful:
Most laser pointers commercially available today top out at 5mW. The "Extreme Nexus" model that was sent to me rates at 95mW (they got some 300mW models, by the way). And let me tell you something, that's a difference that's really hard to miss. The laser is green, and is plainly visible without smoke, fog or dust, especially in dimmer settings. Not only that, but it actually burns. Yeah, the kind of burning that you can feel on your skin. And yes, it does light matches, it burns through dark plastic things and pretty much looks like a freaking light saber that extends for miles and miles into the sky.
I pulled the ad this morning after finding out more about the capabilities of these lasers, which I wrongly believed were comparable to toys, and their legal status for sale in the U.S.
A laser pointers guide published by the Food and Drug Administration states that pointers above 5 milliwatts only can be sold in the U.S. for commercial uses such as land surveying. They cannot be sold as amusement or pointing devices and are subject to seizure when imported into the country:
Irresponsible use of more powerful laser pointers poses a significant risk of injury to the people exposed. Persons who misuse or irresponsibly use lasers are open to personal liability and prosecution."
http://www.cadenhead.org/workbench/news/2945/these-laser-pointers-too-wicked
Needed to clear this up in my own head.
Pete
