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US: House and Senate pass legislation against laser pointer aiming

The U.S. House of Representatives on February 25 passed, by voice vote, H.R. 386, the “Securing Aircraft Cockpits Against Lasers Act of 2011.” The same language passed the Senate on Feb. 17 as an amendment to an FAA funding bill. Because the House passed a bill, while the Senate passed an amendment to a different bill, a joint House-Senate committee will meet to “agree on a common format” before sending the legislation to President Barack Obama for his signature.

The bill makes it a crime to aim or illuminate an aircraft with a laser pointer. From the bill:

Whoever knowingly aims the beam of a laser pointer at an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, or at the flight path of such an aircraft, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. As used in this section, the term ‘laser pointer’ means any device designed or used to amplify electromagnetic radiation by stimulated emission that emits a beam designed to be used by the operator as a pointer or highlighter to indicate, mark, or identify a specific position, place, item, or object.


There are three exemptions in H.R. 386: 1) R&D and flight testing approved by FAA, 2) Defense or Homeland Security department operations, and 3) use of a “laser emergency signaling device to send an emergency distress signal.”

From an AP story running in many locations including
here.

COMMENTARY: LaserPointerSafety.com has a page with
our analysis of H.R. 386, written before the bill was introduced into the current session of Congress.