The technology is clearly close:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/S6bUlwtYwGY

Trim Trees with a Laser

Full laser videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXeeRgEY2UE

@EvanDaniel Very Cool and Interesting. But I don't know that I would call this "close".
1: That laser is corded rather than battery powered, so it's not particularly portable. As @WesleyJB mentioned, the weight (and cost) of the batteries probably would be a limiting factor of an actual hand-held laser weapon.

2: It took him about a minute to cut the tree branch. You certainly COULD get second-degree burns from that, but only if the target declined to move for some reason. I'm guessing that a higher power version would be needed in order for it to be an effective weapon (barring a weapon which is primarily intended to blind, which is explicitly against current international law).

Note that the closest thing I can see to a practical hand-held laser weapon in the future would be something like this (if a hand-held version ever actually gets developed and produced): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolaser

@DanielParker I suppose I should have clarified better, I meant "close" in the context of "by 2043". That laser is only a couple kW; you could run it off a portable battery for several minutes without particular difficulty (beyond needing to rework the power supply, maybe).

We've also got truck-mounted anti-drone lasers. The tech is advancing fast, both on industrial and military fronts. I strongly suspect that by 2043, the question won't be about whether you could build one, but rather whether one is "commercially available".

@EvanDaniel I agree. This isn't intended to be a question which will obviously resolve to either YES or NO. On the balance, I lean towards NO, but who knows?

This is something that could already be made with current technology, namely Yb:Fiber laser and a LiPoly battery. The main reasons infantry laser weapons are not a thing are 1) geneva convention: you can't intentionally blind people which is a certain side-effect, 2) risk: you don't want to accidentally blind friendlies, 3) batteries: the joules-on-target to weight ratio heavily favors bullets.

@WesleyJB

Made a related question.

https://manifold.markets/WesleyJB/will-there-be-an-attack-on-civilian?r=V2VzbGV5SkI

Will there be an attack on civilians in a NATO country committed primarily with a laser weapon with >19 casualties?

41% chance. Ends January 1st, 2031. Attack could be committed by terrorist, state actor, or independent. Accidents do not count. I used NATO to capture the spirit of "developed Western country," but any incident on the ground of a country that is a member of NATO at the time of the attack counts. Primarily with a laser weapon means the damage was caused by the laser and it's direct causal effects and not by some other weapon. The fine line here is that a dazzle and shoot scenario does not count, but dazzling a pilot to bring down a plane does count. Casualties is inclusive of any significant injury or death. Blinding people or significant burn injuries are sufficient. >19 of course means 20 casualties at a minimum.