[Nuke]

seems handheld energy weapons arent as far off as we think they are. this one not only looks badass but it also puts holes through things.

http://hackaday.com/2011/03/10/youll-shoot-your-eye-out-with-a-1mw-laser-pulse-pistol/

[Thaeris]

Wow.

That's full of win. Now all we need are full-sized lasguns.

[BloodEagle]

I wonder how kevlar holds up to that....

[Rodo]

Wow... nice!

Wanna see what happens when used on flesh 

[StarSlayer]

Yeah let see it on a pig cadaver before we color it black and call her Winona. 

[headdie]

* headdie starts looking up the hills for the avalanche of legislation that will soon land banning these things in civilian hands

[Mika]

Oh no

This really shouldn't be on the civilian markets. Seriously. It shouldn't be even possible to build these things. Leave that stuff to us.

It will not kill anyone, but it can remove the eyesight of the person who uses it, or the eyesight of the target in less than blink of an eye.

This is not going to end well.

EDIT:
Never thought I would say this, but there really shouldn't be Class III or Class IV laser devices freely available anywhere near to general public. This is really something that should be eliminated by legislation, and disregarding this will very likely lead to general public health issues.

[Scourge of Ages]

Never thought I would say this, but there really shouldn't be Class III or Class IV laser devices freely available anywhere near to general public. This is really something that should be eliminated by legislation, and disregarding this will very likely lead to general public health issues.

Meh. If you think about it, the huuuge volume of things that could lead to public health issues that are freely available to the general public makes class IV lasers seem like fluffy teddy bears that take thousands of dollars and 70 hours to become remotely dangerous.
Let me list some. Each of these things is pretty harmless just sitting on it's own, until it's thrown in somebody's eyes or combined with certain other objects:
darts
pesticides
herbicides
fertilizers
just about every cleaning product, especially notable is
Drano
kitchen knives
automobiles
gasoline
oil
plastic bags
rope
oh yeah, firearms (restricted, but still quite available)

[Flipside]

I suppose it's like all things, it depends whose hands it gets into. Many people can own dangerous stuff and treat it with the respect it deserves. Others will do a Darwin, and that's fine in my books. What worries me are the third group, those who, in their idiocy, harm other people, those are the real risks.

[Scotty]

The difference between a laser pistol and anything else on that list is that there is absolutely no reason to have one around the house than for ****s and giggles.

[headdie]

that take thousands of dollars and 70 hours to become remotely dangerous.

How many development cycles will it take before this is more widely available?

Remember the very computers we sit at are the result of development of machines developed in the 80s and cost thousands of pounds and many production hours to create, with military interest in this technology you have a global market for their development with big business interested so how long in countries like america will it be before you see "civilian" HK, FN, Colt, etc versions of this thing's technological decedents on the racks of a gun store alongside ballistic hunting rifles and hand guns?  in 25 years we have gone from typical PCs costing £2000+ new to less than £600 for a typical PC today what will we see with these? development wont be as fast I suspect but it could easily happen in our life times.

that point about availability in gun shops got me thinking about something else, today we can investigate gun crime by matching bullets to the weapon that fired them giving a solid link between weapon and round, this will not be so easy for a laser

[Mika]

The difference between a laser pistol and anything else on that list is that there is absolutely no reason to have one around the house than for ****s and giggles.

Exactly. I can't see a single reason why a normal person should have a need for Class III or Class IV devices.

Be advised that selling that thing is likely bordering illegal in EU.

And for a little bit of ranting, I just can't ****ing understand why I'm supposed to obey the eye safety regulations when designing stuff for public use when something like the link above is suddenly OK? I can imagine the **** storm that will still happen if a certain Class I (= eye safe) device ever penetrates the consumer markets - tons of people will complain that it's still not safe enough, while public itself is allowed to do something like that what everybody sees is dangerous but everybody goes like it's his right to do that.

And yes, I have a Class IVB laser device (750 mW continuous @ 650 nm) at my work. I couldn't even think of bringing it home to just use it for **** & giggles. Everybody who has had the distinct pleasure of using it has been pretty much scared ****less, even with mandatory eye protection.

What's next, a CO2 laser rifle?

[Mika]

that point about availability in gun shops got me thinking about something else, today we can investigate gun crime by matching bullets to the weapon that fired them giving a solid link between weapon and round, this will not be so easy for a laser

Right on target too.

The worst thing is that it's impossible to know quickly from which direction did this one come from if it hit somebody - nor will there be any way to tell quickly if somebody just got sick or got hit by a laser. There will be no visual cues or anything, and no normal glass will absorb 1.054 1.064 µm. This is a dream toy for idiots when they know they can get away with it.

EDIT: Crap, can't recall Nd-Yag base wavelengths

[BloodEagle]

Yeah let see it on a pig cadaver before we color it black and call her Winona. 

You win the thread. 

[Bobboau]

so, you all want to make it impossible for me to develop and manufacture high precision cutting tools from my home? I'm fairly sure if I put my mind to it and devoted a lot of money I could make a realy cool fabricator that took wood and carved 3d models out of it using some sort of design software.

[Nuke]

i wouldn't mind having a 50 watt laser cutter machine. so i dont think id like to see a total illegalization of high-power laser products because some asshat hacked together a laser pistol. still il admit that this is not a safe idea, and its only a matter of time before someone commits a crime with a laser weapon. i just dont want to see a bunch of legitimate laser products banned for this. its still pretty badass that someone managed to make such a laser compact enough to be handheld and run on batteries.

[Bobboau]

Well, the question will come down to will it happen before or after the market is flooded with high power laser tools from sears and DeWalt. If it's after then the people committing the crimes will get arrested, if it's before then no lasers for us.

[z64555]

Right about now shielding would come in handy...

1. Yay for laser guns!

2. oh ****, anybody know the range? If it's too long then we've got an "ideal" sniper weapon... I'm not even sure an NV goggle can pick up on the firing of that thing.

[Marcov]

You know, with all these technology going on, I'm pretty much doubting that 300+ years of military technology plus the fact that one is facing a foe that could cause his extinction certainly doesn't equate to FreeSpace tech.

Of course, it's just Science Fiction, so why argue?

I'm no weapons expert, but shouldn't all these "badass" weapons actually be put to use and produced? Or perhaps they just scare the **** out of nations, and incites violence.

[Flipside]

To be honest, a flash grenade would probably do the job just as effectively for far less price. In my opinion, Lasers are probably better suited for their current role in Anti-Air and Anti-Missile tech than Anti-personnel. Any kind of laser with an effective range similar to a good Sniper Rifle would require a heavy power-source, with the added disadvantage that, other than the eyes, the Human body is probably more vulnerable to high-velocity metal than a laser.