ISSUE IDEA: Don't Point That Thing At Me

[Australian rePublic]

[title] Don’t Point That Thing At Me

[validity] must allow planes

[desc] This week, over 300 people pointed their laser pointers at planes, in an attempt to blind the pilots. This has lead to calls for the technology to be banned

[option] "Last week, I was flying into Greenville when I saw this green light in my eyes!" complains @@RANDOMNAME@@, the pilot who piloted this proposal. "I accidently deployed the oxygen masks instead of the landing gear! It caused a great panic, and I almost missed the runway! The risk of laser strikes is too damned high! Ban all laser pointers by punishment of prison!"
[effect] foreigners are often extradited when their laser beams cross international borders

[option] "But I need a laser pointer for my profession" suggests @@RANDOMNAME@@, an astronomy teacher "How am I supposed to draw attention to Uranus without my laser pointer? I also use them to play with all the stray cats in the park. You can't criminalise lasers just because a few bad apples point them at planes!"
[effect] the nation’s pilots have a 2% chance of seeing the lights on the runway

[option] "These damned bloody planes are the problem!" comments Karen @@RANDOMLASTNAME@@, a retiree who lives 20 kilometres away from @@CAPITAL@@ Airport and has come to send in her fifteenth noise complaint about the structure for this week. "They don't only stop us from sleeping in till noon with their bloody "Siooooooo!", but because o'em, I can't point no lights at the sky for no reason! Get rid of those bloody planes!"
[effect] a handful of serial-pests have made it unnecessarily difficult for millions of citizens to travel across the country

[title] Don’t Point That Thing At Me

[validity] must allow planes

[desc] This week, over 300 people pointed their laser pointers at planes, in an attempt to blind the pilots, calling for the technology to be banned

[option] "Last week, I was flying into Greenville when I saw this green light in my eyes!" complains @@RANDOMNAME@@, the pilot who piloted this proposal. "I accidently deployed the oxygen masks instead of the landing gear! It caused a great panic, and I almost missed the runway! The risk of laser strikes is too damned high! Ban all laser pointers by punishment of prison!"
[effect] foreigners are often extradited when their laser beams cross international borders

[option] "But I need a laser pointer for my profession" suggests @@RANDOMNAME@@, an astronomy teacher "How am I supposed to draw attention to Uranus without my laser pointer? I also use them to play with all the stray cats in the park. You can't criminalise lasers just because a few bad apples point them at planes!"
[effect] the nation’s pilots have a 2% chance of seeing the lights on the runway

[option] "These damned bloody planes are the problem!" comments Karen @@RANDOMLASTNAME@@, a retiree who lives 20 kilometres away from @@CAPITAL@@ Airport and has come to send in her fifteenth noise complaint about the structure for this week. "They don't only stop us from sleeping in till noon with their bloody "Siooooooo!", but because o'em, I can't point no lights at the sky for no reason! Get rid of those bloody planes!"
[effect] a handful of serial-pests have made it unnecessarily difficult for millions of citizens to travel across the country

[Baggieland]

This week, over 300 people pointed their laser pointers at planes, in an attempt to blind the pilots, calling for the technology to be banned

This sounds like the people using the lasers want lasers to be banned. Needs to be reworded.

How am I supposed to draw attention to Uranus without my laser pointer?

I haven't researched this topic, but is it possible to point a laser at Uranus? The moon, maybe, but we can already see that with the naked eye.

I also use them to play with all the stray cats in the park.

This doesn't affect planes.

[Trotterdam]

I haven't researched this topic, but is it possible to point a laser at Uranus? The moon, maybe, but we can already see that with the naked eye.

Laser pointers aren't very useful for pointing at the moon, either.

Unless you're using the laser pointer to point at the location of the moon on a paper star chart you brought with you.

Laser pointers have a lot of uses, but there's really no sensible reason why you would ever want to point one up.

[Terrabod]

Laser pointers have a lot of uses, but there's really no sensible reason why you would ever want to point one up.

This. That's why to me it makes more sense to criminalise behaviours (police funding to locate people misusing laser pointers coupled with harsh penalties for misusers) rather than technology... or to go down the route of restricting the sale of lasers above a certain power level only. The latter would require exemptions for e.g. some scientists, but I don't see any meaningful objections to such restrictions (which could be an issue for you trying to write an "against regulation" option).

[Australian rePublic]

This week, over 300 people pointed their laser pointers at planes, in an attempt to blind the pilots, calling for the technology to be banned

This sounds like the people using the lasers want lasers to be banned. Needs to be reworded.

Cheers. Fixed, thanks!

How am I supposed to draw attention to Uranus without my laser pointer?

I haven't researched this topic, but is it possible to point a laser at Uranus? The moon, maybe, but we can already see that with the naked eye.

I don't know the details, but I've been stargazing before, and they use it to point to the sky and stars

I also use them to play with all the stray cats in the park.

This doesn't affect planes.

Exactly the teacher's point, that lasers don't necessarily have to blind pilots

I haven't researched this topic, but is it possible to point a laser at Uranus? The moon, maybe, but we can already see that with the naked eye.

Laser pointers aren't very useful for pointing at the moon, either.

Unless you're using the laser pointer to point at the location of the moon on a paper star chart you brought with you.

Laser pointers have a lot of uses, but there's really no sensible reason why you would ever want to point one up.

I don't know how it works, but in countries with laser pointer bans, there are usually exceptions for astronomers. Don't know exactly the details

Laser pointers have a lot of uses, but there's really no sensible reason why you would ever want to point one up.

This. That's why to me it makes more sense to criminalise behaviours (police funding to locate people misusing laser pointers coupled with harsh penalties for misusers) rather than technology... or to go down the route of restricting the sale of lasers above a certain power level only. The latter would require exemptions for e.g. some scientists, but I don't see any meaningful objections to such restrictions (which could be an issue for you trying to write an "against regulation" option).

Ignorance is bliss my friend, ignorance is bliss

I've actually complained about it here.
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=511115

[Terrabod]

Ignorance is bliss my friend, ignorance is bliss

I've actually complained about it here.
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=511115

I don't take your point; are you trying to argue that what you think is a stupid approach in Australia is a rational answer to this problem in NationStates? Or are you trying not to posit a rational solution here but are instead using this issue to satirise Australian policy?

If it's a case of the latter, I'll take my reasonable approach to issue resolution elsewhere haha.

[Trotterdam]

That's why to me it makes more sense to criminalise behaviours (police funding to locate people misusing laser pointers coupled with harsh penalties for misusers) rather than technology...

That's ideal in theory, but it sounds pretty hard to enforce. Even if a pilot reports getting blinded by a laser, it would be difficult tracking down which of the thousands of people living below (many of which probably own laser pointers) was responsible.

Restricting lasers above a certain power level is more practical, since it can be handled at the point of purchase.

I don't know the details, but I've been stargazing before, and they use it to point to the sky and stars

I looked it up. The key point is that the light get scattered by the atmosphere to create a visible beam, as opposed to the typical depiction of a cat-toy laser pointer, which creates a mysterious red dot on the ground/wall without a visible beam connecting it to the pointer. The beam will still fade long before it reaches an astronomical target, but the eye can continue to follow its direction.

Air is mostly transparent, with only a tiny fraction of the light passing through it getting scattered (bluer colors moreso than redder colors), so it takes a fairly powerful laser to create a visible beam like this. So that's one reason why restricting the more powerful laser pointers would inconvenience some people, even though most people shouldn't need them.

[Free Ravensburg]

This sounds like that one story from the news

[Terrabod]

That's ideal in theory, but it sounds pretty hard to enforce. Even if a pilot reports getting blinded by a laser, it would be difficult tracking down which of the thousands of people living below (many of which probably own laser pointers) was responsible.

Should have clarified that this only applies to police helicopters, which as you can imagine are a relatively frequent target of deliberate laser attacks. With the GPS and thermal imaging technology available (plus ground units, potentially including police dogs), finding the source isn't a huge challenge. Obviously not easy for passenger planes.

Restricting lasers above a certain power level is more practical, since it can be handled at the point of purchase. [...] It takes a fairly powerful laser to create a visible beam like this. So that's one reason why restricting the more powerful laser pointers would inconvenience some people, even though most people shouldn't need them.

Yup, hence my suggestion, but Aussie rejected it.