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New DOT/FAA Laser ruling with DOD pending ?



 
 
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  #11  
Old January 25th 05, 06:37 PM
Mark
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Tim, you're hyperventilating... relax!!!


Tim Killian wrote:
Nearly 300 million people inhabit the U.S. these days, and roughly

half
of them are old enough to wave a laser pointer around. If only 1/10

of
1% are imbeciles with a sociopathic streak, that means 150,000 of our


fellow citizens could be lighting up police cars, busses, aircraft,

and
NFL quarterbacks for sheer amusement.

Laser pointers have been compared to guns in this discussion, but

there
are big differences -- a pointer can be used covertly, and the beam
travels at the speed of light. In a fit of deranged anger, I might go


out in the back yard and try to hit a police helicopter with a
high-powered rifle, but I'd probably miss the target, and the noise
would certainly draw attention. With a GLP, the situation is very
different -- it's more like a shooter with a silencer on the weapon,

and
the weapon never misses.



Czar7 wrote:

Just thought you might be intersted in this little nugget.

Davoud...this was on WBAL.com this morning:

*********
Linthicum Man Faces Charges In Laser Incident
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
WBAL Radio and The Associated Press

LINTHICUM, Md. (AP) - Police are announcing the arrest of a

Linthicum
man in a laser pointing incident involving an Anne Arundel County
Police helicopter.

Thirty-eight-year-old Edward Pannell of Eva Avenue was arrested
yesterday after a three-week investigation.

Police say Pannell admitted pointing a high intensity green laser

at
the helicopter December 31st while the aircraft was involved in a
search for a criminal suspect in Pasadena.

The pilot had to break off the search because the laser interfered

with
his visibility.

Pannell is charged with reckless endangerment and a violation of a
prohibition on laser pointers -- both are misdemeanors.

The investigation was conducted by county and state police

detectives
in the Baltimore Joint Terrorism Task Force.

***********

My question or point would be the quote "...and a voloation of a
prohibition on laser pointers."???

I don't have details, yet, on what was pointed since I don't know

what
the AP considers "high intensity". So it may be that this GLP was
over 5mw. But the comment was a prohibition on laser

pointers...not
GLP's or high intensity laser pointers...but laser pointers.

What I can tell you is that Linthicum is home to BWI airport and I

am
sure they are watching the area like a hawk. I am also sure that

Mr.
Pannell is very foolish to point the thing at a police helicopter.

Oh well...be careful about rumors. You never know when they will
become misdemeanors!

Dave


  #12  
Old January 25th 05, 07:23 PM
Chris L Peterson
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On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 09:25:28 -0700, Tim Killian
wrote:

Laser pointers have been compared to guns in this discussion, but there
are big differences -- a pointer can be used covertly, and the beam
travels at the speed of light. In a fit of deranged anger, I might go
out in the back yard and try to hit a police helicopter with a
high-powered rifle, but I'd probably miss the target, and the noise
would certainly draw attention. With a GLP, the situation is very
different -- it's more like a shooter with a silencer on the weapon, and
the weapon never misses.


Not to mention a weapon that does no damage.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com
  #13  
Old January 25th 05, 08:28 PM
Brian Tung
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Chris L Peterson wrote:
Not to mention a weapon that does no damage.


Ahh. So to put it in terms that some of us geeks over here in the RPG
corner can understand, it's a magic wand that does 4d0+0 HP damage.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt
  #14  
Old January 26th 05, 03:31 AM
David
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Tim Killian wrote:

With a GLP, the situation is very
different -- it's more like a shooter with a silencer on the weapon, and
the weapon never misses.



I still can't belive that you can fixate the beam on a target or even
find it. Maybe I need to practice..
  #15  
Old January 26th 05, 03:38 PM
Tom_T
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Do people still play tabletop D&D? I though MMO's had pretty much
killed it off.....

Tom T.

 




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