"Lethal" laser rifles seized in early morning raid (From The Northern Echo)
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"Lethal" laser rifles seized in early morning raid
11:52am Friday 3rd September 2010 in
Toy guns fitted with potentially lethal laser beams have been seized in an early morning raid by trading standards officers at a Sunday market in North Yorkshire.
The Chinese-made toys, which sell for under £10, are so dangerous that they have been banned from sale across Europe. The laser has been found to be nearly 20 times more powerful than permitted by toy safety regulations - yet the packaging says that the toy is suitable for children from five years of age.
Following a tip off, North Yorkshire County Council’s trading standards staff visited Catterick Sunday market and located a stall being run by a trader from Oldham. A search revealed a stockpile of the illegal toy weapons, all of which were seized.
In July this year laboratory tests led to a Europe-wide recall of the guns. The tests showed that the guns pose a risk of damage to sight because they incorporates class 3B lasers.
The black plastic toy gun comes in a yellow box with TD-2007 written in silver along the top. The gun contains a built-in laser module which is initiated using a button near the trigger. The laser is so powerful that it can blind if shone directly into a person’s eyes and there are concerns that the “toys” could lead to fatal results if fired at drivers and aircraft pilots.
County Councillor Clare Wood, Executive Member for Trading Standards, said: “These are extremely dangerous so-called toys, which could easily have the most horrific consequences. They could for example easily damage a child's eyes.”
Trading Standards are advising parents whose children might have one of the guns to remove the batteries and call Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 to report where the item was bought.
Trading Standards staff are now investigaing the source of the imported guns which were seized at the Sunday market in Catterick.
Comments(2)
Crafter
says...
11:14am Sun 5 Sep 10
These toys are more powerful than the usual lasers found in alignment tools and need to be banned before the criminal element in society decide to find uses for them. I believe that t here is a laser sword available too which has the power to actually kill an insect. When these were advertised as being able to do this and also to cause permanent blinding, there were people writing comments such as "Cool ! Gotta get me one of those." There are some sick people out there and 'Toys' such as these should be banned, just as knives and guns are. To let them fall into the hands of young children and thugs is not only dangerous, it's criminal, though you'll have difficulty taking manufacturers to court.
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A trading standards officer with the seized laser rifles
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*shakes head slowly* says...
8:04pm Fri 3 Sep 10
I can find no reference anywhere to an aircraft crashing as a result of a laser pointed at it (outside of Star Wars, that is!).
We've all heard how dangerous lasers are - but where are all the accidents, except in folklore?