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Are 250mW laser pointers legal?

I found a website that sells green laser pointers that have a power rating of 250mW (for comparison, most cheapo laser pointers are 5mW). I saw a video of the beam from this pointer popping a balloon and setting a match aflame..

I was wondering if these are legal, and if I were to buy them in bulk and sell them on eBay if I would get myself into any sort of legal trouble!

Thanks!

4 Answers

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  • Yoho
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    sounds like a class 3 laser. No laser is illegal but if you burn someone eye you could go to jail and held accountable for the damages.

    Reselling shouldn't be a problem as long as you sell to 18+. If you sold them to children it would be the same as selling a knife to a kid.

    ""class IIIb

    May cause damage if the beam enters the eye directly. This generally applies to lasers powered from 60–500 mW. Lasers in this category can easily cause permanent eye damage from exposures of 60/100th of a second or less depending on the strength of the laser. A diffuse reflection is generally not hazardous but specular reflections can be just as dangerous as direct exposures. Protective eyewear is always recommended when experimenting with IIIb lasers. Lasers at the high power end of this class (100 or more) may also present a fire hazard and can lightly burn skin. ""

  • Anonymous
    5 years ago

    Um, you are one of the many reasons why I hate people. Do you realize how dangerous that is? What if the person went blind? How would you feel then? What if they lost their vision and crashed? What if that crash killed them? Honestly- how the hell is putting people in danger fun? There isn't a specific law in Indiana saying "You will be jailed for (insert time here) and fined with $.... for shining lasers in drivers eyes." because they don't think people are dumb enough to do something like that. And even when there is no specific law, you can and WILL get punished and probably sued. Honestly, use your brain. Dumb ***.

  • 1 decade ago

    In America they only sell up to 1mw as you can be done for terrorism for pointing these at planes or police.

    However in Australia these are legal up to almost anything...

    I do not recomend these as they can often reflect of surfaces accidently and go into your eye

    They are too rediculously powerful..

  • 1 decade ago

    yes i think they are legal up to 1000mW

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