PHOENIX (AP) - The Arizona House has given final approval to a bill that would allow county attorneys to prosecute people charged with pointing a laser at aircraft.
The bill sponsored by Tucson Republican Rep. Ethan Orr would originally have made pointing a laser at aircraft a class 5 felony, but an amendment adopted by the Senate lowers that to a misdemeanor.
Pointing a laser at aircraft is already a federal offense. But Orr says federal prosecutors rarely go after offenders and that he wants to give local prosecutors “more teeth.”
The Federal Aviation Administration reported nearly 4,000 incidents of lasers being pointed at aircraft in 2013, a more than 40 percent increase since 2010.
The House approved House Bill 2164 with a 46-7 vote Wednesday. The bill now goes to the governor.
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