Cockpit Colin wrote:
For what it's worth, I own one of the green variety - it's great for
pointing out starts etc at night.

My feeling is that if someone shined in the cockpit from (at least) 1 or 2
miles away, ...

(a) It would give me a bit of a fright - be damned annoying, but not
damaging - possibly causing a precautionary go-around at worst.

While it is almost impossible to cause permanent damage (pretty much
the definition of class IIIa), it might ruin your night vision for a
few moments or more. If it was an innopportune time plus a panicky
pilot, this could cause worse than a precautionary go-around.
Realistically, that is unlikely.