yes, it’s legal
is it legal as a lay person to purchase and own a peq 15a or comparable device from a law enfforcement officer who obtained it legally? your thoughts and ideas would be most appreciated. i cannot seem to get an answer to this question. hill 300
If the item is not stolen military equipment, it’s legal to purchase. IR lasers/illuminators are not sold to the public widely because of consumer safety concerns, namely people burning their eyeballs with the lasers.
I have yet to see a retailer that will sell one to someone who does not hold DoD or LEO ID.
You can find them on Ebay from time to time.
The PEQ-15 uses a class 3B laser which is not eyesafe.
To put it in perspective, a good quality laser pointer is .5mw. Even on LOW a PEQ-15 (non-DBAL version) is 10x more powerful.
At HIGH it’s 90 times more powerful. So just something to consider.
The regulation applies to sales and not ownership. If you can find a used one for sale you can legally own it BUT you will not be able to legally purchase one new.
There are very strict regulations on how the sales go down through dealers. Items must be purchased on dept letterhead/PO, to be delivered to a dept address, with dept payment. Individual purchases are not allowed.
I have been on both sides of the fence, end user and now dealer (for LDI). It’s unfortunate but thems the rules.
Think maybe you’re thinking of the PEQ-15A (DBAL), after all. It’s got more juice.
Insight AN/PEQ-15
Aim Laser(s)
VIS = 4mW, +/-1mW
IR LO = 600uW, +/-100uW
IR HI = 25mW
Illuminator (IR only)
LO = <3.5mW
HI = 30mW
As mentioned before, since the aim laser on HI is a Class 3B laser (NOHD = 234m; Army says different, but they’re test protocols for such things are pretty…well, shitty), the PEQ-15 a restricted item. Being able to purchase one as an everyday individual is supposed to be nigh-impossible, however, it’s merely very difficult.
While I can’t think of a single earthly reason why a civilian would need one, I also don’t think that that means that the tectonic plates are going to catastrophically shift because one manages to get his meathooks onto one. It can be done if you look around hard enough. If you get the opportunity to make a purchase, call Insight and run the serial # to make sure it’s cool (i.e., not stolen, on some list that states it was/will be destroyed, etc.), presuming you have no interest on being party to a felony. Cover your ass, legally. If the seller objects, dime his ass out immediately, it’s a sure flag that they’re in the wrong.
While I agree with most of your post (except there are 2 versions of the DBAL and ATPIAL with different power outputs), I will have to ask why you think any civilians may not need one? There are NUMEROUS night hunters out there for instance that a IR laser helps them immensely with varmint control for starters. Self protection is another. I wish ALL IR lasers could be FDA legal for sale as folks can be trusted with a firearm, but not a laser? Just my humble opinion on this coming from someone who uses a lot of these devices.
Vic
i’m totally against federal regulations that don’t directly affect interstate commerce as it relates to the actual interstate travel of money and goods, and only then when there is an exceptional need for mature interference, as all other federal regulation is completely and totally unconstitutional…
however, people can be pretty stupid, and i’m sure eye-damaging IR laser NDs would be a lot more common if everybody and his uncle could just walk into Walmart and buy one. should they be able to? hell yes. would most people be stupid with them? hell yes.
With the exception of designating a target for optically guided ordnance, I would presume the uses for civilians would be identical to that of the military. Hunting and defense at night.
I personally can’t seem to find it in my budget, but would consider it just like a white light in regards to tools available for use in a specific role.
I think Vic and Shivan summed it up perfectly for me. I own a couple of the ATPIALs (all legal and clean units) and I use them for night hunting (helping cull coyotes out in eastern oregon) as well as run and gun night matches. It’s fantastic technology, and I agree I scratch my head as to why it’s LE/MIL ‘sale’ only. If I can handle the responsibility of a firearm, I can safely manage a laser.
That said, I do think the uses are justified, as mentioned. No way would I want to pop off my white light given the option of being able to search and designate with an IR source. Ever.
My own job and lasers, up to the 1-watt range? Yeah. We’ve met. 
Don’t read too much into what I typed. I’ve lost count of how many folks I’ve seen procure the things…without bothering to think about what they’re going to use to see the damned IR beam. That’s all.
If you have and use I-square devices, that’s a different story, you’ve actually put some thought into it instead of just getting the laser because it’s cool, which is the trend, not the exception. Lots of wasted $$$, there, on the difference between need and want.
Safety is another thing. I see whole reams of BUMED and other incident reports regarding laser incidents within the military, where a user is likely to get some sort of brief, even if it’s bastardized and they sleep through it. Civilians…hell, show me a site with a specs listing that lists, much less defines, the NOHD of a Class 3R VISIBLE laser. An IR laser? “Well, if I can’t see it, it must not be able to hurt my eyes (presuming that they know that lasers can burn retinas to begin with).”
That last, in my mind, is the reason for the mil/LE restriction, and while I know in my gut that it’s probably too much of a blanket policy, I see too many permanently damaged eyes to want to see it lifted. There are idiots in the business world with vis-green laser pointers that are rated 3R and have an NOHD of 28m+, designed for use in large auditoriums, in a 12x15 break-out room with floor-to-ceiling windown and shiny wet-erase boards. No clue why that’s A Bad Thing. It’s even easier to be negligent with a beam you can’t see.
Hell, part of it is also that the glamor of the things is lost on me; I can yank the things out of a cage by pointing and saying “Gimmie!” Matter of familiarity breeding contempt, I’m positive. The honeymoon’s over.
do you guys think this is a legit one http://cgi.ebay.com/Insight-Technology-ATPIAL-AN-PEQ-15_W0QQitemZ270543702827QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3efda94b2b
Potentially, but 4500 2x-3x more than I’d ever pay for one.
when i was fixing to be deployed to iraq in kuwait we had just boxes and boxes of these things we had them everywhere we were like 5 year olds with legos i didnt know they were so expensive we would break them and just part them together with other broken ones to make them work wasnt a really big deal i just dont see the point of paying that much for them i could get a sbr and a new suppressor for the cost of one of these
They cost the gov’t under $400 each, so that’s quite a gouge.
Roger that brother. 
Check the guy out. As of today, 46 ebay trades in life and none (that’s - 0) as a seller. And, he only wants $4500? Next slide…
now thats funny.
I have no use for one personally, but I would love to play around with someone elses kit for a night hunt.
They are for sale all over, http://itargetmarketing.mybisi.com/ is just one of many and as far as I can see, there don’t seem to be much control.