Securing Aircraft Cockpits Against Lasers Act of 2005

[neoncowboy]

House Passes Legislation to Criminalize Pointing Lasers at Aircraft/Pilots in Flight
Late last week, the U.S. House passed HR 1400, Securing Aircraft Cockpits Against Lasers Act of 2005. This measure creates federal penalties, including up to a five-year prison term, for anyone who is convicted of knowingly pointing a laser at an aircraft in flight. The bill was sponsored by U.S. Representative Ric Keller (R-FL) and was the outgrowth of a number of recent incidents (100 over the past year) where lasers were pointed at aircraft in flight. Rep. Keller introduced the legislation after a widely reported incident earlier this year of a laser being pointed at business aircraft approaching Teterboro Airport (TEB). One individual has plead guilty to the incident but had to be prosecuted by federal authorities under the Patriot Act since there currently is no statute applicable to such action. This legislation, which would impose a federal penalty for such an offense, now awaits Senate consideration. For additional details, contact NBAA's Dick Doubrava at [email protected].

OK, lemme get this straight.

Some moron in Jersey shines a laser pointer at a Learjet. Since there's no statute making that illegal (read: it's not against the law), he's prosecuted with the Patriot Act. You remember, the Patriot Act that we had to enact so that law enforcement and the spies would be able to effectively prosecute terrorists. Is that what the Patriot Act is for? Criminalizing anything deemed worthy of prosecution? Scary.

 

[Standing Wolf]

We need a special federal law against whipping people with dirty socks in public places.

 

[neoncowboy]

We need a special federal law against whipping people with dirty socks in public places.

Or we could just prosecute that with the Patriot Act, if no state law prohibiting it exists.:banghead:

 

[Joejojoba111]

Tip of the iceberg. (shudder) There's currently no forseeable limit to how far stuff will go,