Your nephew is wise. :-)
It's worth mentioning, however, that the man confronting you likely realized that an average Joe, plinking at targets at a "shooting range" in the middle of the day ..... didn't present much of a threat. He could accost you, bluff and bluster, to his heart's content. So long as he didn't present a physical threat you'd likely have enough common sense for everyone involved and he'd be perfectly safe.
Then, he could go along, feeling smug and superior, and maybe thump his chest a little bit for the girls ("You shoulda been there! Today I told off this redneck loser and he had a gun. Gave it to him, but good!!!!) at the local biker vegan, fair-priced, free-range coffeeshop and collective.
I'd wonder if he'd display bravado like that with a drug dealer sporting the same .38, in the hood, at 2am. Unlikely.
On the interwebz, it is called a “bouncy”.