Near-IR aiming lasers (such as the AN/PEQ-2 and AN/PAQ-4) can indeed cause permanent damage, among USAF CATM armorers there was a rumor of at least one idiot bu

Near-IR aiming lasers (such as the AN/PEQ-2 and AN/PAQ-4) can indeed cause permanent damage, among USAF CATM armorers there was a rumor of at least one idiot burning his retina trying to "see" the beam directly.