We developed a laser gun some where in that 1980s or 1990s.

What could that gun do. One man could point the gun at an army of a thousand men. Burn their retinas and blind them. Someone thought that was a weapon of mass destruction and they banned its use.

Tell me what is better killing a thousand or blinding a thousand? But not killing them. A gun like that would scare an approaching army. That could end war as we know it.