Lasermax IR laser!
In doing some research, I came across some vague references on the net about legal IR lasers. Are some legal and some not? What makes one illegal?
The military uses IR lasers that will reach out to 1000m or some crazy range. The FDA believes IR lasers with that much power will liquify civilians' eyeballs so they ban them from sale except to mil/LE/gov agency. Apparently military eyeballs are not as susceptible to liquification as yours or mine.
Laser manufacturers then built IR lasers with lower power and got FDA approval to sell to the general public. Those are the 'civvie legal' and 'eye safe' Class I IR lasers you see for sale.