Lasman formerly from one of the Moebian regiments (cannot say which one), been working besides some of your guys in Tertium against the freakbags, was wondering;
Why do y’all never use stubbers and bolters instead of the lasgun? This is no criticism of your doctrine, it seems plenty effective against the freakbags, I’m simply curious.
Thank you in advance for any response, and may the emperor protect you.
Thank you for your inquiry.
The use of stub weapons and autoguns as opposed to las-weapons serves a variety of purposes.
Firstly, stub weapons, such as the Executioner shotgun, can utilize specialized ammunition to serve a variety of purposes. The two most common types seen on Atoma are the stun round, which electrocutes the target, and the armor penetrating round, which weakens enemy armour. Different types of ammunition have also been recorded, with Navis Imperialis Voidsmen on occasion using glass shot wrapped in wire to prevent over-penetration.
That brings me to my second point: prevention of over penetration. When it comes to the application of force by law enforcement, minimizing civilian casualties should be a priority. While the executioner shotgun is undeniably a very powerful weapon with a wide pattern of spread, it is still much less likely to over-penetrate and hurt bystanders. Similarly, some operations require boarding action on space-fairing vessels, and maintaining atmosphere on board such a vessel is paramount. If I were to fire a lasgun at a bulkhead, it may puncture a hole to the vacuum, and now everyone on the ship is slowly dying. In contrast, the pellets from the shotgun are more likely to either embed themselves in the bulkhead or ricochet.
It should be noted that some Arbitrators do utilize lasguns, but it is very uncommon, and most prefer the use of stub weapons, autoguns, and/or bolsters.
