PO2Hammer:
My only acceptable purpose for using a firearm against a person would be for me to defend myself. At that point, I'm not going to care who sees it. It may actually be better that they see it as soon as possible. A gun may make someone retreat and, if they see the gun earlier rather than later, they may run off that much more more quickly. I think it'd be a good thing that they know real soon that there's real, live gun pointing at them.