That's a lot of words Kurt. I fell asleep midway through the first paragraph and hit my head on the keyboard. Too much to digest this late at night I suppose. I'll have to take another stab at it when I'm more rested. ;) In the meantime, what does it mean? Are you trying to show a need for some type of regulation governing the use of these 5mw devices? Personally I don't think consumer grade green lasers need to be regulated. I think a warning on the package stating that shining these into someones eyes on purpose may be hazardous to their health, might be enough. It works for cigarettes and alcohol. I quit smoking and I... well, it worked for cigarettes anyway. ;) You can tell someone not to look at the sun, and yet more times than not, they will turn their head and look right at it. You can't regulate stupidity. I think those who get hit in the eye by these green lasers can make their view known to the perpetrator more effectively than a stupid regulation. We're over regulated as it is... As far as Commercial Pilots go, I'm in favor of arming them with green lasers so they can defend themselves. In fact, I will go one better. I will mount their green lasers on top of their pistols so they have a choice of which one to use... JMHO. ;) Quoting Canopus56 <canopus56@yahoo.com>:

Back in January 2005 when this was a hot topic, I took some photos comparing the brightness of a green laser pointer and a car headlight at 500ft (152 meters) and 1000ft (304 meters) and observed the brightness of the beam out to approximately 1300ft (396 meters). Just got around to typing up my notes and posting the pictures.

http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/observed/Glptst/index.html

Hope this provides a useful collection of references.