Authorities See Red Over Popular Laser Pointers

Youngsters around the country are getting their kicks using hand-held laser pointers to flash bright red dots on movie screens, people at shopping malls and pro athletes in action.

Now some communities are starting to crack down.

The lasers, which are the size of a lipstick or a fountain pen, can throw a concentrated beam of light hundreds of feet and put a shining dot on someone’s shirt or forehead, seemingly out of nowhere.

“It’s become a big nuisance. It’s annoying with them flashing this around on people,” said Eugene Siegel, mayor of this blue-collar suburb about 15 miles from Chicago.

Chicago Ridge banned the sale of laser pointers to anyone under 18 after mall security guards complained. The city also made it illegal for children to possess the pointers. Violators or their parents face fines of up to $750.

Other communities that banned laser pointers recently include Virginia Beach, Va., Westchester County, N.Y., and Ocean City, Md. Some school boards have banned them as well, and a fan was ejected from a New Jersey Nets basketball game last winter for trying to distract a player with a laser.

The lasers once were seen only in corporate board rooms and college lecture halls. But as prices dropped from hundreds of dollars a few years ago to less than $25 now, they proliferated.

“If there was a hot beach novelty item this year, the laser pointer was it,” said Ocean City Mayor Jim Mathias.

They may be more than annoying.

Lacinda Grimes became alarmed when a red dot appeared on her chest one day at work at the Chicago Ridge Mall. At first she thought someone was aiming at her with a gun with a laser sight--a common weapon in action movies.

“Someone might think it’s a gun and shoot back at them,” said the 22-year-old worker. Police have raised that worry too.

The Food and Drug Administration warned last December that the pointers could be more damaging to the eyes than staring at the sun.

Dr. Martin Mainster, a spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, said it is possible to damage the retina by looking directly into a laser beam. However, he said he is not aware of any documented reports of eye damage from a laser pointer.

Laser pointers are “kind of cool,” said Dan Mcnamara, 14, who doesn’t own one himself but has friends who do. He and his twin brother, Pat, said it’s unfair to fine kids just for having fun.

“What do they think, they’re going to point at someone’s eye on purpose and make them blind?” Dan said, walking home from Chicago’s St. Ignatius College Preparatory High School.

For Dean DeHarpporte, a laser-pointer wholesaler in Eden Prairie, Minn., business has never been better.

“I’ve been in this business four years, and I haven’t heard of a serious problem yet,” he said. “My conscience is clear.”