Are consumer-grade laser pointers sold in the US lasers? In comments on Would a laser weapon visibly fire?, it is claimed that the majority of devices sold to consumers as lasers are, in fact, LED-based. I think that (at least in the US), laser devices up to a few milliwatts power are legal and inexpensive. For instance, I own this device, which I believe to be a laser. Is it? More generally, are _real_ lasers available for purchase to consumers for less than, let us say, $100US?

All the laser pointers I have seen, are in fact lasers. It's easy to tell, If you point one at a wall about 20 feet away, it will create a very small point of light, a few mm across. If you do that with a LED light, the beam, if it's powerful enough will be anywhere from half a meter to a meter in diameter. Only a laser can keep a beam that tight.

The device you link to is a real Laser

There are laser Diodes, which might be the source of the LED comment. Here are some commercially available laser diode modules.

Small, inefficient lasers are cheap. They're used in DVD players, CD players, bar code readers, and in the mouse I'm using.