How does the laser work? How realistic is the laser pointer gun in the science fiction movie? What would a realistic laser gun look like? For example, this is the laser weapon system currently in use by the US Navy: Obviously, it can disable missiles, drones, and boats by overheating electronic equipment. Compared with more classic weapons, they do have some advantages: they do not require ammunition, only power, they can fire very quickly, and their power can be adjusted according to different threats.
Outside of ships, they may not be used anytime soon. They need a lot of generators. Their range is also very limited, because the beam will diffract in the air, especially in the presence of rain, fog or dust. So, for things like portable laser pointers, let alone hand-held laser pistols, the future is far away.
If laser weapons are real, will they drop bullets like real guns? Early forms of laser weapons do exist, and they are not affected by gravity enough to have an impact. Take this experimental laser weapon used by the US Navy as an example. Its main purpose is to engage aircraft and small assault ships. It can be used as a non-lethal dazzling light in “low power” mode, forcing enemy personnel to turn and leave, making their combat inefficient.
In any case, the system was able to shoot down a drone from a distance of 100 miles during the test without having to contend with gravity. Gravity does bend and distort light, but for laser weapons, it is insignificant in any practical range. A bigger problem is that water droplets suspended in the air will weaken the beam because it will be refracted and scattered as the beam passes through them.
You may want to stop and think about the power of the green laser pointer beam to be detected within a distance of a few light years. The Apollo astronauts left some mirrors on the moon, so we can perform laser ranging. This is more difficult than it seems, because the laser beam will diverge due to diffraction effects-even a perfect laser beam will reach the moon several miles wide.