Chemical propulsion has been with us a long time since it's possible to store a fair amount of energy in a small space.
Battery technology is rapidly advancing, and will change the world in many ways.
It's possible to store a very large amount of electrical energy in a small space now with LiPo batteries, and while a great advancement (witness the modern hobby drone) is hardly the last word in battery technology.
I envision a practical electro-magnetic small arm in the not too distant future.
The sensible design would seem to be a cartridge arm with high energy battery and capacitor contained in the cartridge, although many systems will likely be tried.
Think we'll see this in our lifetimes? We've come from Maxwell Smart's shoe phone gag to the IPhone 7 or whatever it is now in a scant 50 years...
Why mess with gunpowder when we can shoot with energy from the sun?
