O.C. seeks crackdown on laser pointers

Officials in Ocean City are set to enact new, stricter regulations for laser pointers after an explosion in popularity.

The Ocean City Council is looking to ban youths under 18 from buying or possessing the pointers and requiring vendors explain it is illegal to shine them on others. The city council will meet Monday at 6 p.m. to discuss emergency legislation tightening restrictions on the laser pointers.

Green-colored laser pointers have become increasingly popular in the last six weeks, with police saying that vendors on the city's boardwalk have sold about 30,000 so far this summer.

The town enacted a ban on shining laser pointers on others in 1998 when red laser pointer pens became a nuisance. State lawmakers passed an identical law.
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Information from: The Daily Times of Salisbury, Md., http://www.delmarvanow.com/