Laws against lumens?

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cutlerylover

cutlerylover

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I am finaly getting a mag85 setup soon which will be my brightest light yet, but it got me thinking today...at the risk of sounding strange is there a law against high power flashlights? I mean some of these 1000 + lumen monsters are really bright and I am sure they can cause all kinds of trouble and retina damage...I was just wondering if anyone knows if there is some kind of law aginst them, and if so whats the limit to what the average citizen can have? I am always having to keep in mind what kind of new knives I buy because of laws so I was just wondering if I have any restriction on lights? I do NOT plan on doing anything stupid with them like shining it in my neighbors windows...:whistle:

lol, seriously I would never do that though, I am just kidding... I would just be shining them on my property playing around with them, but keeping them mostly at home...Anyway I was just curious...Anyone know?

Can anyone enlighten me...

:sssh: :thinking: :shrug: :help:
 
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I think the only laws that would apply to flashlights are those having to do with possible misuse.

It would be illegal to use one as an incendiary device in an arson. It would be illegal to interfere with any kind of transportation or communication. It would be illegal to assault someone with a flashlight.

Stuff like that.

Let's hope our freedoms are never so severely restricted.

Scott
 
Laws against lumens? I don't know but like most shiny things they may attract weirdness. Inadvertantly shining one at a car at night could get you one phone call. Being on your own land or even in your own house is no garantee that you won't attract unwanted attention.

There was a thread some time ago about someone playing with a light in his own house and running into LEOs (bless 'em) who were convinced they were seeing a home invasion. It got pretty ugly. There were threats about using deadly force. (I'm in no way being judgemental about the LEOS. If anything, it was the homeowner who acted in a thoughtless manner -- never considering the consequences of his actions)

From my point of view I'd say be really careful -- most folks don't have lights as bright as we do and even we might have a hard time gauging what it may look like that first night when we excitedly run outside with our first bright light that just came in the mail that day.
 
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I checked with our police chief, city attorney and license & Code enforcement manager. There is nothing to prevent me from shining my soon to arrive tank light in town as long as I don't do anything stupid like shine it at a plane/helicopter, at someone/car etc. Only general nuisance laws apply.
 
Good point...I think for the most part common sense should keep me out fo trouble, I just wanted to double check to make sure you know...Now that you brought up that other thread I realize that I often shut off the lights and check out ym new toys...I will have to be carfeull not to do it too foten or for too long I cna easily see a missunderstanding happening there...
 
People -- LEOs and others -- are often just plain curious, even if you aren't breaking the law. If you're, say, walking along harmlessly down by the river shining your light it can't hurt to think about what you are doing and have something simple ready to say if challenged. Something easier to explain than flashaholism in the post 9/11 world.

"Everything's OK, sir. I'm just looking for my dog. Thanks"
 
If you shine a light at a police officer, it will often be interpreted as an action to get their attention, and if for no other reason, they'll come over to check on your welfare. If you have a particularly nice light or a very bright one, and you attract the wrong officer (or right one :) ), it may also ensue into a friendly (and possibly inquisitive) discussion as well ;)

Sub_Umbra said:
People -- LEOs and others -- are often just plain curious, even if you aren't breaking the law.
Click to expand...
 
I am finaly getting a mag85 setup soon which will be my brightest light yet, but it got me thinking today...at the risk of sounding strange is there a law against high power flashlights? I mean some of these 1000 + lumen monsters are really bright and I am sure they can cause all kinds of trouble and retina damage...
Click to expand...
It's legal to buy 5mW laser pointers over the counter in stores, which have much, much higher intensity than direct sunlight if you hit someone directly in the eye with one. Even the brightest HID lantern would not even come close to the damage you can do with a cheap laser pointer, so unless you're shining bright HID right in someone's face at very close range, I don't think permanent retina damage will be an issue. Of course, hitting a driver with such a light could blind them temporarily and result in an accident, so it's necessary to exercise caution.

There's no explicit restrictions for flashlight brghtness as far as I know of, and even if there were, it would be a restriction on intensity (candela), as opposed to quantity of light (lumens) -- a typical street lamp can put out well over 10,000 lumens for example. HID headlights can put out a few thousand lumens each -- there's no restriction on the lumens, simply on how intense the beam can be in any particular direction -- that is why HID lenses have to spread the beam out wider than standard headlights, and have very sharply defined cutoff with no spill in order for them to be approved.

Honestly, the amount of people that would even be interested in these super-intense flashlights is so low that I doubt it would even attract much interest in terms of regulations, espceially consider laser pointers, which are potentially far more dangerous, are freely sold in much higher numbers.
 
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As long as you don't bother anyone, no one should bother you. :)
 
BVH said:
I checked with our police chief, city attorney and license & Code enforcement manager. There is nothing to prevent me from shining my soon to arrive tank light in town as long as I don't do anything stupid like shine it at a plane/helicopter, at someone/car etc. Only general nuisance laws apply.
Click to expand...

Do you have a thread about this tank light? :grin2:
 
cutlerylover said:
I am always having to keep in mind what kind of new knives I buy because of laws so I was just wondering if I have any restriction on lights? ...:whistle:
Click to expand...

I'm a little confused by this. If you're in Pennsylvania as your profile says, the only law is that automatic/gravity/switchblade knives are prohibited.
 
Good question, I know there are laws governing the amount of noise a person makes ,
so what about the amount of light a person emits
 
Minjin said:
I'm a little confused by this. If you're in Pennsylvania as your profile says, the only law is that automatic/gravity/switchblade knives are prohibited.
Click to expand...



Yeah but I am a balisong addict, lol, and everytime I buy one I want to carry it but I know some places in PA they are allowed to be carried in public and used, but many places in PA are in the grey area and balisongs can fall under the switchblade act...

Balisong = butterfly knife

In general balisongs are not allowed to be carried in public in PA but there were at least 2 court cases that I know of where a balisong was NOT considered a gravity knife and therefore did not fall under the switchblade act...

Even though I worry sometiems about being hassled about my knives most of the time I just carry and use what I want and I have never done anything wrong so I have never had a problem with my knives "knock on wood"


TORCH_BOY said:
Good question, I know there are laws governing the amount of noise a person makes ,
so what about the amount of light a person emits
Click to expand...

There ya go, this is why I was just pondering the idea of restritions...and I just wanted to know if there were any specific laws on the subject...
 
I was in a large pleasure craft many years ago and, while reviewing the controls, the owner impressed on me the need to NEVER illuminate the cockpit of other boats. i dont recall if that was a rule or a law. I would also expect law trouble for flashing aircraft on final approach, and cars driving at night
 
Minjin said:
Balisongs are legal. Period.
Click to expand...

If you do not mind me asking could you provide a reference to why you think this is? Because I have several reasons to believe otherwise...including literature as well as confirmation from law enforcement officers who are members of well known knifeforums who disagree...
 
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