Its purpose is to temporarily disorient and blind a target. Blinding laser weapons have been tested in the past, but were banned under the 1995 UN Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons, which the United States acceded to on 21 January 2009.[2] The PHASR rifle, a low-intensity laser, is not prohibited under this regulation, as the blinding effect is intended to be temporary. It also uses a two-wavelength laser.
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A U.S. service member with the non-lethal PHASR (Personnel Halting and Stimulation Response) laser prototype, 2005. | Spyke
It sounds like they spent two thirds of the budget on working out the worst backronym possible.
And the last one to make the opening look like a mouth about to give head.
"I'm gonna stop you so much, you'll need a cigarette afterwards."
Shit.... 2005 is history now, stop kicking me like this