] David Banach, 38, is the first person charged in a rash
] of recent incidents in which lasers were shined at
] aircraft around the country. Justice Department officials
] said they do not suspect terrorism in any of the cases,
] but said Banach's arrest shows how seriously they take
] the matter.

I've heard it said on the news terrorism was suspected in these cases by the FBI. I myself have been suspecting stupidity.

] After being taken to an FBI office and given a
] lie-detector test, Banach said he had hit the jet with
] the beam, court documents say. During questioning by the
] FBI, Banach showed an agent his laser. After the agent
] switched it on, Banach warned him "not to shine the laser
] in his eyes because it could blind him," the court
] documents say.

My suspicions seem confirmed by this man's statement. Don't look at the laser. Well, don't aim the laser somewhere it might meet someone's eyes.. Idiot. That is a very clear case of putting others at risk by not thinking. I'm not saying this guy should wind up in jail, but he was posing a risk to aviation, and a visible example of some sort should be made. Making someone look stupid that is doing something stupid using the mass media is a good way to go about it. Hopefully it ends there.

Green lasers are way more likely to harm the human eye then those red ones most people have because of the way your eyes see the color spectrum. The big brother to those little red laser pointers can to do very significant damage to the eye. If these risks are not seen by someone playing with even a weak laser, then they should be educated. We also don't know the specifics of what he had. A user on this system had a green laser that was strong enough to light a cigarette with, I know because I lit several with it. Blind pilots guiding a major airliner isn't something anyone would care to see, and that can happen, easily and accidentally.

Comments have been made regarding the 4th Amendment and the Patriot Act.. I could be missing details, but it seems like the Patriot Act was only what they charged him under, not how they collected evidence. I await to see how it is handled in the court. A sentence maximum of 25 years would actually make sense in a case where it was the expressed goal to take out the aircraft and its passengers. In a case of being stupid, I would assume the maximum would not apply. I could be wrong.

If a police helicopter looking for places shooting lasers at aircraft found itself being shot with a laser, well, that's not very intrusive. I don't see a 4th Admendment angle here. The search was in public space the searchers are designated to protect. The seizure occurred in a situation where the specific place and the specific item were identified. That is like a cop car driving around your neighborhood looking for people shooting bullets at cars, and finding itself shot at.

NJ Man charged with aiming laser at aircraft