By Bryan Russo, Staff Writer
Originally published July 30, 2010

OCEAN CITY — The Ocean City Council plans to lay down the law on Monday night in hopes of getting laser pointers out of the hands of children.

Ocean City Police Chief Bernadette DiPino estimated that more than 30,000 green laser pointers have been sold in the resort this year and their proliferation has spiked a rise in not only complaints but also widespread concern about public safety after rising reports of people complaining of blurred vision and sensitivity to light after being “shined” by a laser pointer.

On Tuesday, the City Council moved to add verbiage to its existing town ordinance that makes it unlawful for anyone to harass or shine a laser pointer directly on another person and will simply make it illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to buy or possess one, and also illegal to shine a laser pointer on any type of vehicle.

 Council President Joe Mitrecic said he expects the changes to be passed on Monday night via an emergency ordinance.

“These things are not toys,” said Councilwoman Margaret Pillas, who claimed last week to have her vision skewed after being “shined” by a laser pointer. “I don’t think the children realize that these can be harmful, and I don’t think the parents do either. It’s gotten so bad on that Boardwalk this year with those green lasers.”

Councilman Doug Cymek agreed and described the scene on the Boardwalk for those unaware.

“I was on the Boardwalk last weekend, and I’ll tell you, it was like Star Wars down there,” he said.

DiPino told the council that 23 stores were found to be selling the laser pointers, which do have a legal usage, thus making it impossible to ban the sale of them entirely in the resort, according to City Solicitor Guy Ayres.

Although laser pointers are used in boardrooms throughout the corporate world, local man Rich Drake, who still feels the effects of altered vision from a laser pointer incident last summer, said he doesn’t believe the laser pointers purchased on the Boardwalk are being used in any boardroom and not for any reason than causing trouble.

“This problem will not go away until we stop selling them in the stores,” said Drake. “Why are they there, and whey are they being advertised outside when they are dangerous? To this day, I have a pinkish tone around certain things when I look at it, and my doctors tell me that the green laser pointers are stronger than the red ones.”

DiPino says that the manufacturers of laser pointers are not regulated in any way, meaning that the intensity of the laser coming out of these controversial items, are not monitored for safety’s sake.

“We’ve had complaints from the Coast Guard about laser pointers, as well as from the Maryland State Police helicopter, who told us that as soon as they get near Ocean City, all they see is laser pointers being shined up at them, and they’ve threatened to stop landing in Ocean City if the problem was addressed,” said DiPino. “It also stops our police horses in their tracks, as they think the laser is an obstruction.”

Councilman Jim Hall, who stated that he had hoped that the council would move to outlaw laser pointers from outdoor use in Ocean City, said that he was confident that taking the laser pointers out of the hands of minors was a smart move.

“Taking Johnny’s laser pointer away will send a message that if you are under 18, and you get caught with a laser pointer, you are in real trouble,” said Hall.

Fines of up to $1,000 and a misdemeanor charge would be possible for anyone found to be in violation of the new verbiage included in the town’s ordinance.

In addition, the council moved to educate the public on the dangers of laser pointers as well, opting to require all stores who sell laser pointers to post the town’s ordinance outlining the rules and penalties for misuse in clear view at or near the point of sale.

Mayor Rick Meehan hinted that the council may take the ordinance one step further on Wednesday, saying that City Solicitor Ayres may add verbiage that would make it unlawful to have a laser pointer in public right of ways, which the mayor believes would cut down on the pointers being shined into traffic from hotel balconies.

“I got more than a dozen emails in the past few days telling me how good of a time that they had in Ocean City, but there was a “but” in all of those emails, and the ‘but’ was that they were really quite concerned with laser pointers, and they wanted to make sure that we were doing something about it,” Meehan said.

DiPino said that the laser pointers, which retail between $30 and $50, would be confiscated by police officials if and when the ordinance passes through on Monday night.

The forward progress seemed to appease Pillas, who quickly put on sunglasses inside City Hall as soon as the meeting adjourned, although she, like Hall, wanted an outright ban of the laser pointers.

“I really wanted them taken out entirely, but I can support this,” said Pillas.

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