Argument: Laser attacks are a growing threat to public safety

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Australian Minister for Police and Emergency Services Simon Corbell said in June 2008 – “The increasing number of incidents involving people using these items to target aircraft and vehicles creates a significant risk to the community and cannot be ignored. Laser pointers are dangerous when misused in this fashion, as they distract pilots and may even cause eye damage.”[1]

Spokesman Peter Gibson of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority said in 2008 after a coordinated laser pointer attack: “Normally we just get one and it is intermittent. It is happening probably five or six times a week so almost every day somewhere around Australia, someone is pointing a laser at an aircraft. Unfortunately it is not amusing. It is in fact serious.”