Street-sold laser through airport security
So, I bought a €10 green laser pen, but it has no logo or model markings. The most I have is 'NO. 1 JAPAN' and 'LASER POINTER' on the metal clip. It has no indication of how mW it is, or how powerful it is. It is genuinely an average looking laser pen, it can also reach pretty far.
I was told by the leader of our party that previous people who bought laser pens were stopped at customs. However, I am planning on taking the laser pen through in my tagged luggage will be going into the hold.
What I want to know is, will I get stopped for having it in the hold, or in my luggage?
Going from Italy to England.
Best Answer
Aside from the question of markings and power, you have a green laser.
Typically green lasers are DPSS type which is a nonlinear crystal pumped with a powerful IR laser. A (relatively) small amount of green light emerges from the doubling effect of the laser. What do I care, you may say..
Well, the crystal is quite temperature sensitive and if it's cold or hot there may be almost no visible green light coming out, however the IR source is still in there. The cheap street laser may not include a blocking filter to notch out the IR beam, and IR will not trigger your eye's blink response as a bright green light would, so it could actually be quite dangerous to vision.
As was mentioned, the lack of power marking means customs won't know what the power is supposed to be. They may well be more than 1mW. I have a '200mW' one that is probably not 200mW but definitely more than 5mW (Chinese mW tend to be smaller than Western mW). Also green lasers have been targeted because there have been a small number of morons who think it's cool to point them at aircraft.
For example (2008)
High powered laser pointers have been seized by trading standards officers at a container port in Suffolk.
Sixteen boxes headed for a premises in north London were found at Felixstowe Docks earlier this week.
And from 2016:
While trading standards officers can act to stop lasers that exceed one milliwatt going on sale to the public, many are still attempting to smuggle more powerful devices into the UK.
Leicester trading standards recently seized 1,500 high-powered lasers destined for British shelves, which were then destroyed.
It's unclear to me whether they could prevent a private individual from importing such a device for personal use since ownership does not appear to be illegal.
Incidentally, your question asks about customs while your title asks about security. Lasers do not appear to be specifically prohibited from carry-on, but of course your particular one might attract interest. Certainly presentation lasers are not generally a problem, but they are low power devices and typically so marked.
Pictures about "Street-sold laser through airport security"
Is carrying a laser illegal?
In the U.S., it is legal under federal law to own a laser of any power. But often people talk about \u201cillegal laser pointers\u201d. This is somewhat confusing shorthand meaning that the manufacturer or seller illegally called a laser above 5 milliwatts a \u201cpointer\u201d, or illegally promoted it for pointing purposes.Can I bring a laser pointer on an airplane?
You should NEVER aim a laser pointer at or near an airplane, helicopter or drone (drones are legally considered aircraft and you may blind or damage the operator's camera). It is not safe, you may be arrested, and you may help get laser pointers banned.What happens if you point a laser at an airplane?
\u201cThese laser strikes can imperil the aircraft, because it can disorient the pilot on takeoff or landing. They can be temporarily blinded. It's like being in a dark car and then having a flash bulb go off,\u201d she says. \u201cIt's extremely dangerous, it's a federal crime, and we take it seriously.\u201dCan I point my laser pointer at the sky?
Laser pointers can light your path or entertain your cat, but pointing a laser at an aircraft is dangerous and illegal.Lasers at Airport ,Security tips BOSASA RMS
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