Did anyone notice that all the "futuristic" small arms in Star Wars were less effective than what we have now?

I seem to notice that whenever the Imperial Stormtroopers are firing laser or enegy weapons or whatever they are using, they shoot a lot at Luke and Princess Leia, and Han Solo, but not much happens. I think if you had a dozen guys with Kalashnikovs, they would be picking up pieces of the good guys all over the place. Also, unless you are fighting Darth Vadar himself, it just seems to me that a light saber would be less effective than say, oh, I don't know, a .45 automatic or a short barreled shotgun.