"Three Minutes Later, the Laboratory No Longer Existed"

"The Rocket Pistol."
By Robert D. Sampson (1927-92).
First appearance: Science Fiction Adventures, May 1953.
Short story (15 pages).
Online at Archive.org (HERE).

"Hawk-Nose gave Bill a bright red Hyper Atomic Rocket Pistol, but warned him that telling where he got it meant death. Bill didn't tell, even when the whole police force wanted to know."

The most efficient and effective weapon is invisible and doesn't make any noise; it bores 
into the mind and paralyzes the will to resist, making conquest much easier and far less destructive. This weapon has a name: fear.

If you're planning an invasion, perhaps the best way in isn't smashing the front door—that always gets noticed—but from a completely unexpected direction, such as through the children . . .

Resource:
- According to the ISFDb (HERE), Robert Sampson produced as much nonfiction as fiction, with seventeen SFF stories to his credit, most of them in the '80s and '90s.

The bottom line: "Guys never really get over their toys."
— Michael Keaton