Homemade lightsaber wanting to become a laser

Here's some pics of a lightsaber I built with my grandpa over a decade ago:









It's like the most basic construction; a regular green LED wired to a battery pack. At least I think. I'm not sure if these LEDs need to be powered by drivers like lasers or not. Or if the batteries directly power the LED. We wired it to work with the side switch as on & off just like a light switch lol. Anyone think this could be converted into a laser?