http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlWueZ7FnZg...ted&search=

http://www.dragonlasers.com/

i never thought id see myself saying this because i dont believe in restricting peoples freedoms, but what possible legitimate use could someone have for one of these. the things reach 20 miles !!! i can understand them being useful for industrial and commercial purposes such as laser shows. but what does the general public need this for? just for pointing at things? im not too big on gun control , but in ways, these things are worse than guns. guns cant shoot something 20 miles away. i can see people using these things for no good.

a lot of people are too stupid to own one. like this guy. hes pointing a powerful laser in a mirror shining the beam right back to his eyes. not too smart if you ask me.

http://www.dragonlasers.com/i/u/6050995/i/.../009/009-04.jpg

Moderator Edit: Moved topic to the more appropriate forum. ~ Animal

Must admit I had to go off and find some info on these things as I wasn't sure if they were kid's toys or not. And I do hope they aren't!

I couldn't honestly figure out why one would buy one - did I miss something, I wonder?

If what I read was correct, the light is so bright it can cause permanent eye damage ... they will burst balloons (so will a pin and they are so much cheaper - grin!) ... and apparently if pointed directly at a dry leave, it will start to burn within 7-10 seconds. Didn't find any mention to what happens if pointed at human skin (or an animal) and held there for more than a few seconds.

So I wouldn't think they'd be suitable for children to play with - or older kids, for that matter. Which leaves me still wondering why anyone would buy one.

My opinion is that these things should never be allowed to be sold to the Public.The Government Departments responsible, are to me, asleep at the wheel,as they say.It will take a few terrible injuries, with these things,before they wake up and ban them.

i believe the use of laser tech has helped mankind see medical use like all things the misuse of anything is the problem i enjoy the light shows (ie) laser displays we all have the right to express ourselves but not to enforce our opinions on others see gun control where will it all end use the right tool for the job and use it with care be careful out there

Guns have a use, but I fail to see what benefit these could be to the general Public.IMO.

I can't find where it says they can reach 20 miles. Also, in that picture, that guy isn't pointing it in his eye. And finally, I don't believe in gun control, and I don't believe in laser control either (lol). Even if they can reach 20 miles, I personally don't have the accuracy to hit anything of importance.

While we are at it lets make it illegal to go down the street without a hard hat and knee pads on, make all diving boards illegal and be sure and make running illegal as someone can be hurt.

We already have to have our fireworks not so powerful anymore because somebody might get hurt and yet people still do today.

I think these are neat. As long as nobody points it in someones eyes its fine why ban them? People can still get plenty of things to poke eyes out like BB guns and nobody complains about them?...

We cant be afraid of everything.

My aunt is a worry wort. Scared somebody is going to get hurt over anything. My uncle finally got mad and told her she needs to go live in a big box with no windows.

Agree completely.

I gotta get me one of theese things,

even though it can reach up to 20 miles, its not going to have the intensity it had like when the video showed it popping ballons and lighting matches.

Besides

did you see the prices on them?! I think it will be awhile before our children start running around with them and poking eyes out.

You can make your own by buying a 5 or 10 MW one for 60 bucks and taking out the laser.
Then soddar a certain area on the chip and tighten the screw on the inside. It goes from 10MW to 100 just like that. It can pop balloons and light matches and such. Check it out at metacafe if you want.

i agree these things should be banned.some idiot once shined a laser in my eye and it really hurt,lets just say that laser is now in a place were no light can shine

I agree with cowsgonemadd, it's like anything else in the world, if your irresponsible with it, it's dangerous. You know what? If someone is being stupid and shines it in someone's eye and they go blind, it's that persons own damn fault, not the maker's or the goverment's. Same thing with guns, if someone gets shot in the arm because they were being stupid, it's their own damn fault, not the goverment's, or the seller's. I, personally, think these things are pretty frikkin cool, just because I'm a sucker for pretty lights. If I had $100 laying around, I'd get one just to shine it in the sky when it's raining or something, just to see how cool it is. I would NEVER shine it at someone or anything like that, because that's being irresponsible. If I did do it and someone got hurt, it's my own fault and I should be punished, not the guys who made it. It's not the product, it's the people.

Regards,
TheYoda

Pretty lights. I want one.... You can probably see where i stand on this. We live in a world where people cant take responsibility for their own actions. Like the woman who sued MacDonalds because it made her overweight (btw is that really true or just an urban legend?)

Of course lasers are dangerous if used wrongly but like yoda and cowsgonemad said. Its the responsibility of the user not the manufacturer. Lets stop protecting those with no common sense and let them learn a few lessons.

Agreed. Just make them and let people find out for themselves the problems they get with the lack of common sense.

Since a laser is a coherent beam of light, then it's theoretical range is infinite. The practical range would be far shorter, I'm sure.

That would be fine if the potential for injury was only to themselves. Unfortunately, with toys like these an injured party is far more likely to be someone other than the one using it. So, what to do? Banning them would not be right on many levels, from making something the owners of them paid a lot of money for useless, to driving the manufacturer out of business. I'm sure that laws that are already in place to punish those that injure others by being irresponsible, and provide for compensation* to the victims would suffice to cover these items as well.

But there needs to be another law enacted by congress. A Federal law that protects businesses from being sued for a harm caused by a customer's irresponsibility or lack of common sense. It would be too much to ask that the law be made retro-active, so that some of the huge, ridiculous judgments against people and corporations** that have done nothing wrong could be reversed, but we can at least try to stop any more from happening.

One more thing. There are far too many shysters. We should select one out of every thousand lawyers at random, and shoot the rest.


* Actually, there are almost no ways that victims of another's wrongdoing can seek compensation, and most victims can't afford the legal fees to begin with.

** I can't believe some of the incredibly unjust awards the have been made in the last couple of decades. The tobacco companies are a perfect example. The cigarette manufacturers did not force Uncle Joe to smoke three packs of cigarettes a day for forty years. They didn't force him to continue smoking after his doctor told him he'd have to quit after being diagnosed with emphysema. They didn't force him to continue smoking after being diagnosed with lung cancer. It's too bad Uncle Joe wouldn't listen to his family, friends, and doctors, but is that the fault of the tobacco companies? Hardly.

And how about a Judge suing a dry cleaner for $7,000,000 for losing a pair of pants!! He lost the suit - evidently some sanity remains in the courts. I'd have taken it a step further. I'd have disbarred him, and made him pay the cleaner at least $1,000,000 just for being such an enormous pain in the a** to everyone involved.

The broad suing McDonalds 'cause she got fat? First, I'd send her to jail for a month or so for contempt, for bringing her silly-a** BS into my courtroom in the first place. After serving her sentence, she'd have to tape a public service announcement stating that it's no one's fault but hers that she became a fat pig, and that she's sorry and ashamed for trying to gouge McDonald's for her own lack of self-control. Or something along those lines. The broad that collected from McD's for spilling coffee on herself? Pay it back. All of it. McD's isn't going to be punished because you're a klutz, sorry.

They should ban DIY projects like: Turn a flashlight into a handled burning laser.

WARNING THIS WILL CAUSE BLINDNESS IF ONE ATTEMPTS POSTED PROJECT.

...And I would want to destroy a perfectly useful DVD burner because.....???

I believe this one is TRUE. McDonald's also got sued b/c their coffee was too hot. Only in America...

It's too bad people can't be prosecuted for doing stupid things, like the woman that managed to burn herself with a cup of coffee from McDonald's. I some times think that we would be better off if we removed all of the safety labels from dangerous products and let Darwinism take its course.

I think your missing something though. These are NOT toys, these are proffesional show lasers. I agree with you, as I've said before, that it's the users fault for spending 100 bucks on a proffesional laser and using it stupidly. I'm not to worried about seeing these all over the place because, like I said, they're not toys and they're fairly expensive for a teenager or other kid. Unless parents have become so dense that they will spend $100 of their hard earned money on their idiot kid, than I'm not too worried about it.

As for the laws protecting companies, I couldn't agree more. That's like the lady who sued Wendy's because SHE put a finger in her chili. I'm not sure, but I think it's the same lady who sued McDonalds for the coffee, but don't take my word for it, I haven't done any research on it, it's just stuff that's floating around in my head, . I, as a small business owner, would absolutley LOVE if that law was in place. I build and fix computers, so if I have a customer who's dumb as a door nail and slides the metal case on the rug and touches it, gets shocked and ruines his computer, I'd really rather not be sued for something I warned them about. Then again, companies can always enforce a user agreement that states that any damage caused by their own stupidity isn't the business's responsibility. I can see this working for smaller businesses, but for a major corporation like McDonalds, I don't think I'll be finding myself signing a form every time I order a Big Mac. It's an idea for sure, I bet someone can come up with something better and more practical.

That's my 16 and a half cents...

Regards,
TheYoda

Now the $64,000 dollar question. If businesses and individuals were protected from being sued by stupid people, would the insurance companies lower their rates?

(That's a joke, by the way. We all know the answer.)