City Council Votes Unanimously to Ban Sale of Some Laser Pointers

After seeing some Ocean City merchants ignore voluntary requests to stop selling laser pointers, City Council moved Thursday to ban the sale of some versions of the devices.

Council unanimously passed the first reading of an ordinance that bans the sale and possession of laser pointers that exceed one milliwatt in output power. A second and potentially final vote on the ordinance is scheduled for July 14.

The devices are designed to point at screens in office presentations or at stars during astronomy studies—but in Ocean City, the laser pointers have been directed at pilots flying planes, motorists driving cars, visitors riding Ferris wheels and even people sitting in their homes.

A June 7 for directing a laser pointer at a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter and boat on a night training mission. Ocean City police took a radio call from the boat two miles offshore and were able to arrest the man while he was still beaming his laser from the Ocean City Boardwalk.

There were eight similar incidents of aircraft harassment last summer directly tied to Ocean City, according to reported incidents to the Federal Aviation Administration.

"Even the small laser pointers that are sold to the general public, when pointed at an aircraft, can have serious and disastrous effects on a pilots’ vision," the Coast Guard said in a news release. "There is a significant risk to flight safety, especially for helicopters working low altitudes and aircraft taking off or landing. If any aircrew member’s vision is compromised during a flight, Coast Guard flight rules dictate that the aircraft must abort their mission. Laser pointers can cause the pilot to see a glare, afterimage, have flash blindness or can even cause temporary loss of night vision."

Ocean City residents have said that the as they drive their cars, sit in their hotel rooms, ride Boardwalk amusements and walk their dogs.

The sale of less powerful red and yellow lasers are common in Boardwalk shops. At least one Boardwalk merchant is still selling the more powerful green laser pointer—the type that would be encompassed by the new ban. The green lasers can permanently damage vision.

Councilman Scott Ping, who first proposed a ban 10 months ago, called it a "common sense ordinance."

His council colleagues agreed, and after a brief discussion, they passed the first reading unanimously.