@ MG23 I think you are going a little off-topic here. My point was that unregulated sales & import of class 2+ laser pointers is a significant cause of this problem. When catching people who do this is so difficult, regulating the availability of these items which have no home or business use should be addressed.
Yes higher powers are used by professionals, military and industry, in a controlled and regulated manner with the appropriate safety measures.
To address your off-topic points if i must - Yes there are class 3 lasers in DVD burners, but they are of no use to shine at planes. They are not collimated lasers i.e. they dont produce a beam, but rather are focused to a point a few mm from the source. They do produce peak powers approaching 100mW but in pulses for very short periods. Incidentally playing with them without protection is plain stupid, they will cause permanent eye damage. If you feel like trying it please do, it may limit your access to a PC screen.
Last edited by hoss183; 2nd Dec 2015 at 13:58.