Yes, I realized there are multiple perspectives here, but I guess I just have it deeply ingrained in me from military training that the only time you pull a gun is if you intend to kill somebody. And in a story I once wrote about, I almost did kill somebody. I almost shot a drunk I mistook for a terrorist trying to bomb my Air Force listening post, which sobered me.

I learned in the Marine Corps that if you pull a gun, don't just stand there; either shoot somebody with it or expect somebody to rip it out of your hands.

I realize that's hardly how things always work, but it is training that has stuck with me.