GM's notes on current weapon balance in-universe, and how NCM's work in some more detail:

Weapons currently have two categories, Energy Weapons (Which work by using energy somehow to destroy targets, like laser rifles or heat rays), and Kinetic Weapons (which use raw kinetic force).

Energy weapons have a few pros and cons;
Pro: They're usually very weight efficient.
Pro: Ammo is generally very plentiful, if not technically infinite.
Neutral: Depending on the type of energy weapon (like heat rays), their strength is changed with range. At shorter ranges (Knife fights), they operate at maximum efficiency, at longer ranges, they can suffer from blooming or simple energy dissipation.
Con: They generally have somewhat shorter ranges.
Con: They're somewhat more expensive on average.

Kinetic weapons:
Pro: Kinetic weapons are generally much more durable, and less expensive to acquire.
Pro: Kinetic weapons are also more damaging currently. Having a long history, they've been refined to perfection time and time again. Energy weapons are still in their infancy somewhat.
Con: Obviously, kinetic weapons are liable to suffer from major innaccuracy in certain situations.
Cons: For fairly obvious reasons, (Ammunition, complex firing mechanisms, and simply being large) Kinetics are much heavier.
Cons: Ammo is quite limited compared to Energy weaponry.

Of course, Kinetic Weapons can also be further divided into guided and unguided, but those should be logical enough for their respective upsides and downsides for anyone to get the hint.