like father like son - rand paul lone vote against idiotic law

[uscitizen]

I really do not understand the objection to this law unless it is purely partisanship support for Rand paul.

 

[uscitizen]

And it is enforceable just launch a laser guided missle at the source of the laser. A big paintball warhead.

Yes not very practical but possible.
And will be done if we actually start having terrorists painting airplanes for missles.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

We aren't talking about cat toy lasers, Zander. Seems to me, step one would be to restrict the sales of potentially harmful lasers and regulate their use.

Yanno, like we do with other dangerous instruments?

Actually, we basically are. The most dangerous hand held laser available is the Arctic Blue from Wicked Lasers, and it would only bring down a plane if the pilot looked directly into the beam during landing or takeoff, and then only if he over reacted. Commercial jets all but land themselves.

High Power Blue 1W Laser | S3 Spyder III Arctic

The green ones are very useful for stargazing parties, and most of the incidents the FAA tracks are probably nothing but people using them at night to see what they look like. The danger of legally available lasers is minimal already, and I see no reason to further restrict them just because a bunch of people are running around yelling about the sky falling.

 

[Madeline]

Best paragraph from the article:

That's a lovely sentiment, Zander. How does it relate to airplane safety?

According to the FAA there were 2836 incidents where someone used a laser pointer to target an airplane in the last 2 years. Given the fact that there were 0 major accidents involving aircraft in the last 2 years I would say that they incidence of fatalities from laser pointers and aircraft hovers somewhere around 0%.

If somehow somebody did bring down a plane with a laser pointer, and they managed to catch him, I am pretty sure they would have little trouble finding something to charge him with. Murder comes to ming, and I am pretty sure they could stretch one of those new terrorism laws to cover it without actually causing anyone's head to explode, including mine, and my head routinely explodes when I hear about the government charging people with things.

Why, exactly, do we have aneed to go out and right another law to cover this?

If the law doesn't restrict sales and use, I dunno. On the other hand, I'm trying to think of other thingies that can be used to down an aircraft in flight from the ground, and I'm not getting any ideas apart from heavy artillery.

So are these lasers some new type of hazard to aviation?

 

[zzzz]

If it is a big deal then require the airlines to install laser refracting windows in the cockpit. I'm sure the military has these in their planes if it is a real threat.

 

[jillian]

I really do not understand the objection to this law unless it is purely partisanship support for Rand paul.

the people who oppose this are the ones who tend to hate anything that the government does.

 

[jillian]

Unenforceable? I thought they charged a guy with doing this a while back?
It seems to be about the same degree of enforceable as shooting at a plane.

But if we make the laser pointing thing illegal how will the young terrorists get practice at "painting" a plane for an laser guided Sam?

i thought that one was pretty funny, too. seems to me you can say that about any law. so i'm figuring it's all about the 'ihategovernment' stuff.

i'm just wondering if he thinks there shouldn't be any immigration laws, too... you know, since they're unenforceable.

rand isn't very sharp.

Immigration laws are not unenforceable, they are just unenforced.

like drug laws?

 

[editec]

Does that federal law mean it wasn't already illegal to blind pilots in airplanes with lasers?

 

[RetiredGySgt]

i thought that one was pretty funny, too. seems to me you can say that about any law. so i'm figuring it's all about the 'ihategovernment' stuff.

i'm just wondering if he thinks there shouldn't be any immigration laws, too... you know, since they're unenforceable.

rand isn't very sharp.

Immigration laws are not unenforceable, they are just unenforced.

like drug laws?

Our Politicians allowed MILLIONS of illegal aliens into this country and they refuse to use the laws on the books to remove them. BOTH parties are to blame, BOTH want illegals here. However there are specific ENFORCEABLE laws on the books and have been then for MANY years.

Including the ability to make businesses that hire illegals pay such a high price they will stop on their own. No more jobs, no more illegals sneaking into the Country. Enforce the laws.

 

[blu]

I really do not understand the objection to this law unless it is purely partisanship support for Rand paul.

the people who oppose this are the ones who tend to hate anything that the government does.

the government did nothing but waste tax payer dollars on an unenforceable to make them feel better about themselves.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

That's a lovely sentiment, Zander. How does it relate to airplane safety?

According to the FAA there were 2836 incidents where someone used a laser pointer to target an airplane in the last 2 years. Given the fact that there were 0 major accidents involving aircraft in the last 2 years I would say that they incidence of fatalities from laser pointers and aircraft hovers somewhere around 0%.

If somehow somebody did bring down a plane with a laser pointer, and they managed to catch him, I am pretty sure they would have little trouble finding something to charge him with. Murder comes to ming, and I am pretty sure they could stretch one of those new terrorism laws to cover it without actually causing anyone's head to explode, including mine, and my head routinely explodes when I hear about the government charging people with things.

Why, exactly, do we have aneed to go out and right another law to cover this?

If the law doesn't restrict sales and use, I dunno. On the other hand, I'm trying to think of other thingies that can be used to down an aircraft in flight from the ground, and I'm not getting any ideas apart from heavy artillery.

So are these lasers some new type of hazard to aviation?

Birds have taken down more planes that these lasers have, I wouldn't ecatly call them a hazard.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

i thought that one was pretty funny, too. seems to me you can say that about any law. so i'm figuring it's all about the 'ihategovernment' stuff.

i'm just wondering if he thinks there shouldn't be any immigration laws, too... you know, since they're unenforceable.

rand isn't very sharp.

Immigration laws are not unenforceable, they are just unenforced.

like drug laws?

Drug laws actually tend to be stupid. I also think they are over enforced because departments can use the civil forfeiture laws to seize any property they can make a buck off of and put the burden on the owner to prove that it had nothing to do with drugs. Your comparison falls way short.

 

[todash19]

Rand Paul is right. This is better left for the states.

I love these lone constitutionalists. We need more like them.

 

[todash19]

Unenforceable? I thought they charged a guy with doing this a while back?
It seems to be about the same degree of enforceable as shooting at a plane.

But if we make the laser pointing thing illegal how will the young terrorists get practice at "painting" a plane for an laser guided Sam?

i thought that one was pretty funny, too. seems to me you can say that about any law. so i'm figuring it's all about the 'ihategovernment' stuff.

i'm just wondering if he thinks there shouldn't be any immigration laws, too... you know, since they're unenforceable.

rand isn't very sharp.

Actually, Rand is VERY sharp. Sharp enough to get through medical school.
This discussion is being held in the wrong context. This issue is a state one, and needs to be addressed (or not addressed) at the state level. The federal government should not be wasting the peoples time with such frivolous legislation.

For them, it's about smoke and mirrors. When you see so much attention put on silly issue like this, look more closely. Because while you were distracted with laser pointer legislation...

 

[Sallow]

Best paragraph from the article:

That's a lovely sentiment, Zander. How does it relate to airplane safety?

It doesn't - and neither does the inane law that they passed. I am a Private Pilot and I take flying and safety very seriously. That law is a complete waste of time.

Even the author manages to agree that there is a problem.

I'm not trying to deny the seriousness of this particular problem or the idiocy of these particular idiots. Pilots say they can be temporarily blinded when lasers are beamed into their cockpits, and the FAA says it's happened 2,836 times in the past two years. This sounds like a genuine safety hazard. And it sounds as if the laser-pointer industry needs to do a better job in educating consumers about the dangers of its products. So allow me to start this education process:

Hey, idiots! Stop pointing lasers at planes!



Read more: Opinion: Tea Party's Rand Paul Correct, Laser-Pointer Law Absurd - TIME

 

[Sallow]

According to the FAA there were 2836 incidents where someone used a laser pointer to target an airplane in the last 2 years. Given the fact that there were 0 major accidents involving aircraft in the last 2 years I would say that they incidence of fatalities from laser pointers and aircraft hovers somewhere around 0%.

If somehow somebody did bring down a plane with a laser pointer, and they managed to catch him, I am pretty sure they would have little trouble finding something to charge him with. Murder comes to ming, and I am pretty sure they could stretch one of those new terrorism laws to cover it without actually causing anyone's head to explode, including mine, and my head routinely explodes when I hear about the government charging people with things.

Why, exactly, do we have aneed to go out and right another law to cover this?

If the law doesn't restrict sales and use, I dunno. On the other hand, I'm trying to think of other thingies that can be used to down an aircraft in flight from the ground, and I'm not getting any ideas apart from heavy artillery.

So are these lasers some new type of hazard to aviation?

Birds have taken down more planes that these lasers have, I wouldn't ecatly call them a hazard.

Here in NYC we cull the birds around airports. Should NYC now cull people with laser pointers?

 

[LibocalypseNow]

Here's a good article for all the Pauliticians out there. It's from the American Spectator. It discusses some of the problems Ron Paul still has with the Neocons in the Republican Party and how his son Rand could be the pragmatic bridge-builder that brokers a Peace between the two factions. Dr. Ron Paul recently won the CPAC Straw Poll for the 2nd year in a row. The future of the Republican Party could come down to this new Father & Son Dynamic Duo...

The American Spectator : Up From Paulism

 

[uscitizen]

Yeah rotsa ruck, Rand ran on the Tea Party republican ticket, not the libertarian one.

 

[Truthmatters]

His ideas are failed ideas for the most part.


He has been a republican fringe guy and will never win national election because his ideas do not resonate with enough American voters.

 

[Dr.Drock]

His ideas are failed ideas for the most part.


He has been a republican fringe guy and will never win national election because his ideas do not resonate with enough American voters.

You can say his ideas are untested in the modern world, but you certainly can't call them failed. They can only fail if they're attempted.