"Control, this is Flight A-591, someone is aiming a laser on us"
"Copy that, is he trying to blind you?"
"No you don't understand, we've got a hull breach from front to tail"
People think it's funny to shine high powered laser pointers at airplanes, potentially blinding the pilots (most windshields on airplanes are Plexiglas and the entire thing fills with light) It's just a joke that instead of blinding the pilots, the laser is actually melting the plane.
That is most assuredly a Kantrael M36 Lasrifle standard rifle for Cadian Shock Troopers and not a ballistic weapon in the foreground. An Autogun would look nothing like those, a Slugthrower is a wide term of ballistic firing weapons in general. Autoguns, Shotguns, Stubbers, Heavy Stubbers, Autocannon and various Greenskin and Kroot xeno-tech heresy would all be filed under "Slug thrower". Autoguns have all been eliminated from use by the Astra Militarum , most users of Autoguns are renegades or black market goons, and some Rogue Trader personal retinues.
The only slug firing weapon still in use by the Imperium are Shotguns by the Adeptus Arbites as well as various patterns in use by the Adeptus Astartes Initiates and Neophytes. Sniper Rifles also used by scouts and also including the Exitus Rifle of the Vindicare Temple, Hawkeye Pistol, and the Heavy Stubber used on various Imperial tanks or entrenched tri-pod positions.
Picture semi-relevant, it's a .50 cal or 12.7mm like the Heavy Stubber
Considering how many Imperial Worlds there are, those I listed are an extreme minority in usage. Astartes scouts generally just use Bolters for example, and Space Marines like the scouts or not are still outnumbered by the countless amounts of men in the Astra Militarium as the Imperial Guard or militias. Threre's millions of lasguns for every slug thrower in the Imperium. Auto guns are nonexistent but some shotguns and sniper rifles are used. None of which are in usage by the guard. Only auto cannons and heavy stunners.
It has, though. Power output and focus, has changed massively. The lasers you see is the air ionizing from the heat of the weapon, for the Emperor's sake.
You do realize that I was mentioning a laser rifle, right?
Not a ******* shotgun.
I meant we were gonna have a laser rifle in the future, I didn't mention **** about a shotgun.
"That rifle is over the 400w limit"
"What? It's barely 4v!"
"Not if you short-circuit this control board by making these two wires touch, unloading the whole capacitor bank in a single shot."
"Well you're not supposed to pull them."
"And why are you wearing rubber gloves then?"
"... protection."
***** get the ****** flak combo with the flak arty ship, that **** is so scary when you get 3 flak guns (if u are SUPER lucky) and pre-loader thingy that lets u shoot as soon as u start
. Got that **** ONCE, I became god
That thing takes time to pop a ballon, the US has built railguns that can launch a 3+ kg projectile at over 1000meters/sec which can hit a target with relative accuracy 100 miles away.