[masraum]

Originally Posted by cabmando

My concealed carry instructor said "Never draw your weapon as a deterrent. If you're in a situation dangerous enough to draw your weapon, use it. Otherwise you had no reason to draw the weapon"

That, a weapon should only be pulled when it's absolutely needed, but, it's also possible that pulling the weapon and being prepared to use it is enough to cause the threat to disengage, in which case you probably need to have the time and judgement to back pedal. Having the presence of a weapon de-escalate a situation is better than using a weapon.

I think the message is "don't flash it" or "bluff" like you see in movies. If you feel like you have to use it, you should be able to pull it was just enough of a presence of mind or pause to ensure that pulling it doesn't solve the problem before using it (assuming you have that luxury which is obviously a situational thing).