Norway bans high-power lasers at graduation celebrations after police seize 15 units

Police in Norway confiscated 15 high-power laser devices from graduation celebration buses in Bærum on Saturday, prompting authorities to ban all laser use for the remainder of the season, Dagbladet reports.

The Norwegian Directorate for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (DSA) announced the immediate prohibition after inspecting 13 parked graduation buses at Kadettangen. Twelve buses were found equipped with Class 4 lasers—devices capable of causing severe, permanent injury if misused—according to Oslo Police District’s operational leader Bjørn Gunnar Nysæter.

“This is laser equipment that can be extremely powerful and lead to serious, lasting damage if used incorrectly,” Nysæter stated in the police log. While ownership of such devices may be legal, he emphasized the risk of injury as the reason for confiscation. No individuals or companies have been reported for violations.

Torstein Løvlid, event manager for the Kaddatreffet gathering, told Dagbladet that organizers had already disconnected all laser equipment before police arrived. “We had powered down everything deemed unsafe,” he said, adding that arrangers cooperated fully with the inspection.

The DSA’s ban applies to all laser installations linked to graduation festivities, citing “recent serious incidents” as justification. The agency’s press statement did not specify prior accidents but framed the measure as a precautionary response to escalating safety concerns.