Starfleet laser sidearm (2254)
Starfleet laser cannon (2254)
Laser weapons are weapons that utilize lasers, a directed light technology that compresses photon particles into a beam that can have heat and blast effects. While many spacefaring lifeforms utilize lasers as optical data networks, few continuously use laser weapons, since a variety of more exotic and powerful weapon effectiveness is achieved by using weapons that duplicate lasers in design, but utilize different subatomic particles to create the beam.
Starfleet crews used laser weapons in 2254, around the time USS Enterprise visited Talos IV. Landing parties carried laser pistols, and the starship itself mounted larger laser cannons. (TOS: "The Cage")
Starfleet Regulations called for a Federation starship to go to yellow alert when targeted by laser weapons from another vessel, although 24th century USS Enterprise-D captain Jean-Luc Picard thought the rule was outdated, since the laser cannons of an Altec ship were incapable of penetrating his navigational deflectors. Picard also noted that they would run dry long before they would cause any sort of damage. (TNG: "The Outrageous Okona")
Template:LaserTechnology
Background
Hand-held weapon, circa 2265
Since the Earth Starfleet of the 22nd century utilized plasma and phase weapons, it seems odd that they would use a weapon like a laser that does not seem to have the phase pistol's non-lethal stun effect. One explanation could be that the 23rd century term "laser weapon" might mean something more complicated than the lasers we know of today. It's possible that this could be the shortened colloquial use of a more complicated technological name such as "phase laser," and these laser weapons represented a midpoint between the earlier phase pistol technology and the phaser of a decade later.