I appreciate the fact that people with a lot more knowledge than me re. Lasers are posting here, but some first hand experience I had years ago seems relevant...
I'm not at all convinced about these pen sized jobs being much of a danger, ( though I don't fancy trying the receiving end ) - but a nasty little fact not much mentioned so far is that deliberate blinding lasers have been around for a long time.
I worked at a test range, recording LGB hits, the target being 'lit' by a designator as used by our & other forces ( and old kit even then ).
I was warned that the thing had a blinding range ( accidental, not it's purpose ) of 9 miles, and I don't think even our Special Forces can carry around a nuclear generator...
Use of the thing was taken very seriously, with it aimed out to sea towards targets, in case the wind blew the target down & the civilians inland got hit.
When my laser detector beeper & display on my monitor showed the operator was doing a quick test firing with men on the target, I had to radio a quick warning & he became less than flavour of the month.
That was a designator, not an actual Pilot Incapacitation Laser, which have also been around for years.
I would never suggest that all these yobs are running around with ex-military kit, but it may be that a few ( terrorists basically + the odd nut, who knows ) are, and meanwhile there might be an unpleasant 'improvement' in civilian kit.
As mentioned before, I initially had bulky protective goggles impractical for a pilot, but was later issued with what looked like very pale green sunglasses.
I expect there's a nasty snag covering all the frequencies, but if they are practical I'd go for the sunglasses !
One other point - some military vehicles, I believe, have detectors to tell if they are being 'lased' - again frequencies may be a snag, and whether it can do anything about it other than warn one is another question.
- I agree more kit one could well do without, and god knows what the cost is, but maybe an application for Army / Police dedicated spotters in problem areas ?
This trend sounds very bad news, some time in the future...