But if it makes us safer........
Next potent revolution in near future portable weaponry would be directed EMP projectors in a small to bullpup sized carbine style package. Being able to knock out or permanently fry electronics up to 50 yards away with a silent and aimed burst of energy, and being able to get such devices into the hands of many right people, will bring the tyrannical machines right onto their knees in no time.
Projectile weapons are here to stay and will remain the same for the next hundreds of years. The last century and all of it's Space Age experiments ranging from the potentially revolutionary, like the Gyrojet, to outright outlandish, like some of the overly optimistic attempts to bring the Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers atomic ray guns to real life in the late 1940s, only proved that the MOST effective form of antipersonnel weaponry in this day and age is still a metallic projectile propelled at high velocity by a chemical charge contained in a weatherproof case with it's own ignition mechanism. That is the apex of current antipersonnel weaponry and it will be the apex for a very long time. We are not going to see things like phasers or charged particle small arms any time soon because bullets can do almost everything these concept weapons can, and do the job even better. However, a directed energy weapon that is portable, even concealable, that can destroy electronic components at range WILL revolutionize warfare and insurgency entirely and throw the current government monopolies over surveillance equipment completely ass over teakettle. Imagine a state of the art Chinese or North Korean police station ringed by AI cameras and motion detectors suddenly having all of their camera pods and sensors fried by EMP blasts. The occupants of the station would be suddenly rendered blind and deaf, and completely at the mercy of a band of infiltrators armed with knives, suppressed SMGs, and crossbows coming in for total liquidation after the EMP guys had done their work. In the very beginning, tyrannical governments will be completely taken by surprise, utterly defenseless as multimillion dollar cameras and computer equipment are silently blasted into black and dead screens by unseen assailants, leaving their personnel and technicians out in the open, naked and sitting ducks for small groups of rebels hell bent on killing. Then, they will start to come to their senses gradually. Through rats, spies, and plea deals with fainthearted sympathizers of rebel groups unfortunate enough to end up in their captivity, they will start to learn what is being used to destroy their infrastructure. They will announce bans on such technology and the components to make these weapons, most likely with extremely harsh penalties for anyone found in possession of components. But by then, the signal would be widespread, like current 3D printed SMG and rifle receivers, and it will simply become a new form of guerrilla warfare that will be unsustainable for surveillance states in the long run.