Lasgun
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The humble Lasgun is the standard armament of the average Imperial Guardsman in the Warhammer 40,000 setting, and therefore is probably the most common weapon in the Imperium and possibly the galaxy as a whole, given the incredible size of the Imperium and its armies. It is a laser weapon renowned for reliability and ease of use.Also the Lasgun can be set to diffrent powersettings such as low power/fully-automatic or high power simi-automatic. Also it is unknown that as lasgun would have ANY recoil due to the fact that the weapon fires no physical projectile.Thus the Guardsman can EASELY hit targets even on full auto. The power cells that the weapon takes give it high "magazine" capacity and can be easily recharged with access to any standard Imperial power supply, direct sunlight, and even heat - a relatively common practice of Imperial Guard units cut off from supplies is to place their lasgun cells in open fires, although this does cause them damage.
It's also well known for being rather pathetic compared to the arms and armour of the other armies of the setting, useful only by virtue of the fact that Guardsmen come in ridiculous numbers and the application of statistical probability. The weapons are often derisively referred to as "flashlights", based on their individual usefulness, although this is more of an example of how ridiculously tough everything else in the setting. The weapons are rather more useful in Dark Heresy than they are in the wargame, as their reliability, availability and plentiful ammunition become real considerations, and they are rather more useful against the human foes that an agent of the Inquisition is likely to face.
It is universally described in the fluff as discharging with a sharp crack as the beam ionises the air it passes through, but some authers discribe the lasround as either a "bolt" as in Star Wars" or as a "beam" as in Dawn of War. Although other features of the weapon vary - some Black Library works and items such as the Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer describe the weapon as possessing a fully automatic firing setting, but this feature is not represented on the tabletop or in Dark Heresy - this can be explained away by virtue of the fact that there are many different patterns of lasgun produced throughout the Imperium. The lasgun also comes in carbine, pistol, and sniper (referred to as a "longlas") varieties, and the Imperium fields many other weapons based on the same technology, such as the Hellgun (basically a more powerful lasgun powered by a backpack power pack) and the mighty Lascannon.
The name is rather obviously a portmanteau of "laser" and "gun", but argument rages over how the word is meant to be pronounced. Many claim that the "las" should be pronounced "layz", as the first part of "laser", but others contend that this sounds retarded, and "lazz-gun" is a better pronunciation. With no official verdict given, the debate is likely to continue.
The Tau
Like the guardsmen, WeabooTau have flashlights as well. Except thats all they do. They are used to target stuff for their tanks to shoot.