Goes back to the (old wild west?) adage, don’t bring out your gun unless to shoot; don’t shoot unless to kill.
However...in the modern world, would you rather scare off an attacker by presenting a weapon or deal with the aftermath of spilling blood?
And yes, legally, police etc will tell you presenting the gun is “brandishing” in public... usually on a dark street with no rules ;)
Don’t misunderstand, to present the weapon you must be fully willing to use it, or it will be used against you. However in many circumstances simply presenting the gun will send the scumbags scurrying as often occurs.
Of course all relative to the situation and the threat level..ie Numerous adversaries hands visible compared to one advancing attacker with blade.
Agreed. It is not cut and dry.
Our military applies (at least) two criteria to threat assessment:
(1) what CAN the adversary do - what are they CAPABLE of
(2) what do they INTEND to do.
In a personal defense situation we largely deal with inference and our perception of the situation to assess #2 first, with far less regard for #1. Thus the expected question of ‘was deadly force warranted?’