The video: Not content to let intergalactic movie-bad-guys hog all the world's laser guns, weapons enthusiast Patrick Priebe decided to build one himself. (View a demonstration below.) Priebe spent 70 hours making his DIY Pulse Laser Gun out of plexiglass, brass, and aluminum. With a 1-megawatt charge, the gun can "pop balloons, punch holes through paper, scorch wood, and generally be a menace to all creatures great and small," says Brian Barrett at Gizmodo. The foot-long, portable, two-pound gun could be yours: While the first model was tailor-made for a specific customer, Priebe has said he's open to building a replica for the right price.

The reaction: "If you thought a laser pointer in your eyes was bad, then you haven't seen anything yet," says Logan Westbrook at The Escapist. "It's going to be a long time before we swap out bullets for blasters, but it seems like that fateful day is inching closer." Yeah, "the only thing that's missing is an authentic PEW PEW PEW sound when you press the trigger, but that is surely only a small upgrade — or at the very least, an iPhone app — away," says Giles Turnbull at TIME. But seriously: "Do not try this at home." Check out the gun in action: