Pointing Lasers at Planes Could Be a Felony in Colorado; Here’s What You Could Be Charged With

Pointing a laser at a plane is still treated by some people as a type of prank.

There's no denying that many individuals are curious about how far their lasers can reach up in the sky.

However, if your laser's light beam hits an airplane, there's a chance that the pilots will be disoriented. This is why Colorado decided to pass a new bill that will make pointing lasers at airplanes a kind of crime.

Pointing Laser at Plane to Be Felony in Colorado

According to CBS News' latest report, over 400 aviation businesses, including the Colorado Pilots Association, urged the Senate to make pointing lasers at passenger planes a felony.

Kelly Sloan, a public affairs and political communications consultant, explained that once lasers hit the plexiglass of airplanes, the light beams can explode in the cockpit. This can drastically affect the vision of the pilots who are flying passenger airplanes.

"You have a serious chance of incapacitating the pilot with temporary or permanent eye damage," he added.

Sloan said that in 2022, incidents of lasers being pointed at airplanes reached over 300. This is higher compared to the record in 2021, which is only around 260.

New Colorado Bill to Become Law

Because lasers can put pilots and passengers at great risk, Sen. Joann Ginal decided to introduce a new bill that will make this dangerous act a felony.

She explained that pointing lasers at airplanes is already an illegal act in Colorado. However, when there's this kind of incident, only local police authorities will respond.

Once the new bill becomes a law, higher-ranking authorities can now respond if there's an incident of laser-pointing, such as the FBI.

As of writing, the bill has passed the Senate and is now on its way to the House. Laser-pointing will be considered a Class 6 felony once it becomes a law.

CLDG explained that people who conduct Class 6 felonies can face the following charges:

• 18 months in prison.
• Can be fined $1,000 to $100,000.
• Extraordinary Class 6 felonies can put people up to two years in jail.

If you want to learn more details about the Class 6 felony in Colorado, you can click this link.

Other stories we recently wrote about lasers:

A tiny laser that can help find other signs of life in space was recently developed by a group of researchers.

In China, powerful lasers were previously used to recreated magnetic explosions of the sun's surface.

For more news updates about lasers and other similar technologies, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.