Blinded by the Beam: Why Lasers Should Be Treated as a Serious Use-of-Force Concern

Lasers: Powerful Tools with Potential for Harm – Exercise Caution and Responsibility.

In recent years, security professionals have begun to recognize a growing and underappreciated threat: the intentional use of handheld lasers to impair or blind others. Whether during civil unrest, targeted assaults, or protest environments, high-powered lasers are no longer just tools of mischief—they are being used as weapons designed to permanently impair vision and eliminate an individual’s ability to fight, flee, or respond.

This is not theoretical. Officers have already suffered permanent eye damage from green and blue laser pointers during operations in Portland and other U.S. cities. Pilots have been grounded for months due to retinal injuries. And new technologies are making these devices cheaper, more powerful, and easier to conceal than ever before.

It’s time for the professional security and self-defense community—especially those working in protective intelligence, executive protection, and defensive tactics—to put this topic squarely on the table. Lasers should be recognized as a force multiplier for violent actors and categorized within our frameworks for serious bodily injury and, in some cases, deadly force.

The Medical Reality: Lasers Can Maim in Milliseconds

The anatomy of the human eye makes it extremely vulnerable to laser radiation. Because the lens focuses light directly onto the retina—magnifying its intensity up to 100,000 times—a momentary laser strike can result in:

• Retinal burns and central vision loss

• Permanent blind spots (scotomas)

• Flash blindness that lasts for seconds—or longer

• Protracted impairment of depth perception and contrast sensitivity

These injuries are not speculative. They’ve been documented in FAA incident reports, military injury databases, and civilian lawsuits. Class IIIb and Class IV lasers—easily purchased online—pose a genuine threat to vision and, by extension, to a person's safety and capacity to defend themselves or others.

The Legal Implication: Is This a Justification for Force?

Most jurisdictions define deadly force as any force likely to cause death or serious bodily injury. That second part—serious bodily injury—is the key.

Courts interpret it to mean injuries that:

• Create a substantial risk of death

• Cause permanent disfigurement

• Result in protracted loss or impairment of a bodily function, organ, or limb

The eye clearly qualifies as an organ, and any attempt to permanently disable a person’s vision squarely meets the legal standard for serious bodily injury. Therefore:

The intentional use of a laser to impair someone’s vision may rise to the level of a deadly force threat.

While there is limited direct case law involving deadly force in response to laser threats, legal precedent on serious bodily injury—combined with federal charges for laser strikes against aircraft—supports the argument that force may be legally justified, especially when:

• The laser is used intentionally to impair vision

• No alternative means exist to neutralize the threat

• The defender reasonably believes serious injury is imminent

How to Defend Against Laser Attacks

Understanding the risk is one part of the solution. Here are ways that professionals and agencies can protect themselves and their teams against laser-based threats:

1. Reflexive Evasion

   • When directly illuminated by a laser, blink, look down, or look away. This minimizes the exposure time and helps protect the central retina, preserving critical vision areas.

   • Even if an injury occurs, looking away can result in peripheral damage rather than central vision loss.

2. Laser-Absorbing Helmet Strips

   • Tinted laser-absorbing strips can be affixed to helmet face shields. These are designed to block common protest laser wavelengths like 532 nm (green) and 445 nm (blue/violet).

   • Officers simply tilt their heads slightly downward to look through the strip. Several companies—including Laser Optical Engineering (UK) and Kentek—offer these solutions for $25–$32 per strip.

3. Laser Protective Eyewear

   • Specialized anti-dazzle glasses provide broader laser protection, covering multiple wavelengths and offering full-field visual protection.

   • The Stingerhawk FT-2 by Revision Military, for example, blocks green, blue, and violet laser light with an Optical Density of 4 (reducing intensity by 10,000x). They are ballistic-rated and designed for law enforcement helmets.

   • These are currently fielded by agencies like the Federal Protective Service, with unit costs ranging from $125 to $200 depending on quantity and configuration.

4. Tactical Identification of Laser Sources

   • Laser users are easily identified: the beam traces back to the attacker. Agencies can use video/photo evidence, real-time observation, or infrared tracking to apprehend offenders.

   • In practice, once attackers realize that their lasers are ineffective or tracked, use often stops immediately.

5. Use of Counter-Light

   • During civil unrest in Hong Kong and elsewhere, authorities used high-intensity flashlights to disrupt or neutralize laser-wielding demonstrators, providing a tactical light barrier and interfering with laser guidance.

6. Legislative and Policy Controls

   • Some jurisdictions, such as Los Angeles, have passed ordinances banning laser possession during demonstrations. Even if the ban doesn't prevent all use, it provides law enforcement with a basis for proactive arrest and removal from a scene.

Operational Guidance for Security Teams

Whether you're working executive protection, corporate security, or a specialized tactical unit, here’s how to prepare:

• Include laser threats in your red team scenarios and site assessments.

• Equip and train personnel with flash aversion techniques and protective gear.

• Document incidents thoroughly and be prepared to articulate the level of threat in your reporting and post-incident review.

• Advocate for appropriate policies and procurement at the organizational level.

Conclusion: Time to Update Our Thinking

We’ve trained for knives, guns, and explosives. But the security landscape is evolving—and with it, our understanding of what constitutes a credible and disabling threat.

High-powered lasers represent a cheap, portable, and potentially permanent method of disabling a protector or principal. As professionals charged with ensuring safety in high-threat environments, we must recognize that a flash of green light to the eyes is not a prank—it may be an ambush.

As we continue to evolve our training and equipment, let’s ensure that we’re not fighting yesterday’s threats.

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Brad Parker is a senior leader at Progressive Force Concepts (PFC), an executive protection specialist, and author of multiple books on self-defense and protective strategies.