Laser pointers are in the spotlight in Hong Kong’s protests and selling briskly. But are they ‘offensive weapons’ and can you be arrested for carrying one?

After student leader was detained for carrying the devices, protesters besieged a police station then arranged a ‘stargazing event’ the next day

Police demonstrate how laser beam can set sheet of paper alight, though Post unable to get same result using a laser pointer bought in Sham Shui Po

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Laser pointers for sale at a market in Sham Shui Po. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 9:30am, 8 Aug 2019Updated: 4:56pm, 8 Aug 2019

Laser pointers were selling fast in Sham Shui Po’s well-known electronics flea market on Wednesday, a day after a university student leader was arrested there for having several of the devices which the police branded “offensive weapons”.

Baptist University student union president Keith Fong Chung-yin was seized on Tuesday after spending HK$4,200 (US$535) on 10 laser pointers from a stall in Sham Shui Po’s Apliu Street. His arrest prompted hundreds to surround the nearby police station in protest.

Laser pointers emitting green and blue beams of light have been used widely in recent extradition bill protests, apparently to confuse police officers and deter passers-by from taking photographs that might help identify protesters.

Ahead of a “stargazing protest” in Tsim Sha Tsui on Wednesday, nine stalls in Apliu Street reported brisk sales of laser pointers. Some said stocks of larger laser pointers had sold out, but smaller laser pointers, which they called “stargazing pens”, were still on sale.

Laser pointer selling at a market had beams of only 1.6 milliwatts. Photo: Sam Tsang

“We only sell two types, and they are both only 1.6 milliwatts,” said one stall owner. “Of course, you don’t point it into people’s eyes.” He declined to say how many he had sold.

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