Let's just assume that some day there will be such devices as laser guns. Still, there's a basic problem with this scenario that we can understand even in our own century. Can you see what it is?

If you are very fast, you might already have anticipated the problem; but no matter how fast you are, you can't ever duck out of the way of a laser beam. And the problem isn't just that, since light travels 186,000 miles per second, it's coming at you considerably faster than any real person might react. An alien with fantastic reflexes could at least be imagined who might be able to move away, or the beam could be coming from a great distance. The problem is that even an alien wouldn't know TO react. 

Let's think of this in a simplified way. Two people face each other, one with a ray gun in her hand. When she pulls the trigger the other one ducks. But how does he know to begin ducking? Even assuming his brain commands his muscles with incredible swiftness, he won't START ducking until he sees that trigger pulled. 

Now you see the problem: you CAN'T see the trigger pulled until the light coming from that trigger finger reaches your eyes. That's exactly what it means to "see" something. And if the ray is travelling at light speed toward you--well, seeing that you are being fired upon is the same thing as being hit.   

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A Moment of Science^®