laminated glass is simply two sheets of glass glued together with a plastic piece in the middle to prevent everything from flying apart into sharp bits if broken. This make it ideal for front windscreens that may encounter a stray rock and keeps a chip or crack from spreading throughout.
The laminated aspect makes the glass piece -as a whole- stronger than a simple sheet of glass as well.
I once had to punch a hole in one to make it appear as though an object (driver's head) had gone through it. I ended up slamming it several times with a bowling ball to get the right look and then carefully snipping away the parts I did not want. Strong stuff.
As Al points out, cutting must be done differently because you cannot simply score the glass, then snap it. You would only be scoring one of the pieces, not the other. Shaving along the edge can be done because you are shaving BOTH pieces of glass at the same time.
It is not the same as "tempered" or hardened glass which is heat treated and much stronger than normal glass. You can hit it in the centre with a hammer and it won't break. But tap it on the edge with a pointed object and you pierce the external "hard coat" and release all the "interior" that is under tension. It all breaks at once into smaller, rounded shards. You cannot cut tempered glass. It is cut to size, THEN tempered.
Despite my comments about external and internal, it is a single sheet of glass. The properties have just been altered by the heat-treatment.
