Do you realize that analogous punishments for copyright infringement have not actually lowered the number of incidents at all? The fact of the matter is that the "idiots failing to understand the consequences" will always exist, and there are always more being made. Adding harsh punishments simply adds to the consequences that those people do not understand, achieving nothing at all. I would wager that the cause for the increased incidents is because of the increased media attention, which would only increase as harsh punishments are handed down, which would make your solution part of the problem.
Unless we're somehow going to regulate laser pointers like guns, it would be far more effective to add some sort of countermeasure to the planes themselves, or the pilots.
You have a massage (from the Swedish prime minister).