IMO, if someone is pointing a laser at you, it must be for a nefarious reason, and as lasers can cause great bodily harm, you are legally justified to stop the threat.
3 Likes
Yes. Some knives are made of rubber. Some shotguns have bean bag rounds in them. But I am not assuming the person coming at me with a knife or shotgun has a less than lethal version of the weapon I see. Same thing applies here. Most lasers you will see pointed in your direction are actually on a GUN.
3 Likes
Assume the gun is empty until someone pulls the trigger and proves it isnātā¦ sarcasm intended, but point illustrated.
3 Likes
I was once handed a Glock 19 at work.
So, I checked first if itās empty, chamber, magazine.
Wow! It was a BB gun! It felt and weighed like the real thing. No orange tip.
Now, if someone pointed that same āGlockā in my direction, I couldāve reasonably assumed itās a real weapon. āEqual forceā wouldāve been a 9mm.
āStop the threat.ā
4 Likes
Exactly my point!
4 Likes
Iāve got a 1000 mw (milliwatt) blue hand held laser (laser for Powerpoints in auditoriums, on key fobs, boresighters, etc usually run 5 mw red), a 300 mw green, and a 300mw red. Green is the most powerful available for sale online (in the handheld laser-pointer style, obviously thereās industrial lasers), and will be the most expensive. Real 1000mw green handheld lasers cost close to a $1000 (disregard some of the Chinese stuff you see, people test them regularly and theyāre never the power advertised). You can rapidly permanently damage an eye with one, but you not going to pierce an organ or get sliced up like in a SCIFI movie. The only real world stuff that can do that are some experimental vehicle mounted lasers not issued yet to the military and devices mounted to ships requiring massive power supplies. Iād like to see how that goes in court, Portland police undoubted have caught people using lasers on them.
1 Like
Hmm ? My .380 has a CT green laser which is amazingly sharp focused and bright even at 25 yards at the indoor range.
There was a warning attached about possible eye damage. Anybody have any info on the mw output of those ?
1 Like
That is one watt. From what I have read, that is capable of causing permanent eye damage. Videos show that power is able to burn/etch wood, just imagine that on your eye.
I got this from their website, it might be different for each one, but the green laser I looked at, CMR-206, is 5mW peak.
2 Likes
In my mind they constitute a threat of severe bodily injury that can result in permanent damage. The same is true of thrown rocks, and frozen water bottles as well as ball bearing shot with a sling shot. Itās time the police start treating these things as such.
5 Likes
Wellā¦ Iām not the brightest crayon in the box, but if (a) you canāt aim them at airplanes because it may cause the pilot to lose bearings and crash or (b) the military uses them as ātacticalā weapons, Id say that there is come type of threat for great bodily harm requiring an appropriate response. I just hope I never have to test the proficiency of USCCA attorneys defending me
6 Likes
Welcome to the family brother and great to have you here, be blessed.
1 Like
There definitely seems to be a bias in how laser use is treated. It seems to me that if youāre the bad guy itās OK, but if youāre trying to defend yourself against a laser youāre legally out of luck.
Am I wrong?
5 Likes
Thank you for your service, and welcome to the family brother!
1 Like
Thanks for the welcome - and it was not only my privilege to serve, it was also my pleasure - 22 years.
4 Likes
Thank you for your service.
As recent events show, law abiding citizens are guilty until proven innocent.
Meanwhile, burning, looting and mayhem are ok.
4 Likes
Hey Ferdinand! Thank you, I truly appreciate the thought. I might add that it was not only my personal privilege to serve, it was also my pleasure. 22 years went by awful fast.
3 Likes
Is it a harmless laser or is someone lighting you up with a red or green dot gun sight? If you turn your head, does the light go away, or do to catch a bullet in the temple?
2 Likes
Interesting question. Having only read a few of the posts (new to the board), I would say yes. Firstā¦ do you know what it is attached to? That may be a firearm aimed at you. Second, you are making it impossible for me to make a safe retreat, getting shot in the back running away or being blinded standing your ground are both bad options.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
1 Like
A long time ago. In a Galaxy a far, far away 
. I was pulled up at a stoplight and 4 high school kids pulled next to my convertible in their jacked up truck. One of them put a laser on me and started running it up and down my arm. Back then lasers were damned expensive. I didnāt flinch or react. Just reached down and got my .45 that I had bought a laser for and turned it on, while holding it in my lap.
I then looked at the kids in the truck and I couldnāt tell what the laser was (handgun or a pointer) I could tell the laser was coming from the rear driverās side so I shined my laser on the person in that seat. All I heard was OH ā ā ā ā , heās got a gun!. They peeled out crossed 2 lanes of traffic and took the on ramp to the Interstate. I pulled up at the next Gas Station to use a phone to call 911 (no cell phone, yes I had to fight past 
to make report), I was in military and driving my car across the country to my next school ( San Diego to Pensacola Air Station).
That has stayed with me all my life not knowing what that laser was attached to.
3 Likes