In a 96-1 vote, the US Senate on Thursday passed an amendment that would crack down on individuals who shine laser pointers at aircraft – an action which can temporarily blind pilots and put passengers at risk.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) was the lone voter against the amendment, introduced by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and co-sponsored by Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA).

The legislation would make it a crime to knowingly aim a laser pointer at an aircraft, and subject violators to fines or imprisonment for up to five years.

“By setting tough penalties for those who try to disrupt and blind pilots with laser pointers, we are taking a major step toward improving the safety of pilots and airline passengers nationwide,” Boxer said.

“Shining lasers at airplanes is not a game and places passengers and crew at risk,” Whitehouse said. “With the increasing occurrence of these types of incidents, prosecutors must have strong tools to punish and deter this dangerous conduct.”

“This bipartisan effort is a simple solution to a life-threatening game of targeting airplanes with lasers, which continues to be on the rise,” Kirk said. “I hope this amendment serves as a wake-up call to violators and curbs this dangerous practice.”

In 2010, Los Angeles International Airport had the highest number of laser events of any airport with 102 reported incidents, Boxer's office reported.

Including LAX, California had seven airports in the Top 20 of airports nationwide in terms of reported laser pointer incidents: San Jose (80 incidents), Oakland (55), San Francisco (39), Ontario (32), Burbank (31) and Orange County (31).

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the number of reports of lasers being pointed at airplanes nearly doubled in 2010 – to more than 2,800.

The measure, which was passed as an amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Act, exempts those using lasers for legitimate aviation purposes such as research and development, training or emergency signaling. A vote on the FAA bill is expected in the Senate later this month.

The amendment also was co-sponsored by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Senators Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Bob Casey (D-PA).

Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .