Problems using RaycastHit2D.collider, detection only on the rays origin

I'm starting top-down shooter with a laser gun of sorts and I simply want it to detect when the laser fired by such gun hits a collider. For that I've been attempting to use RaycastHit2D. The problem for me is, when I fire the laser it only detects a hit when the collider (an enemy) crosses paths with the player, the origin of the ray. This script is attached to an invisible object child to the player, that also handles animation. Here's the function:

 private void HandleHitDetection()
 {
     Vector2 playerPos = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Player").transform.position;

     if (shoot)
     {
         RaycastHit2D hit;
         hit = Physics2D.Raycast(playerPos, Vector2.zero);

         if (hit.collider != null)
         {
             Debug.Log(hit.collider.name);
         }
     }
 }

The bool used is set and reset from another script. Thanks for the help.