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Originally Posted by deepcreek
...It is a tactical error to pull a gun and not use it....
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Not exactly. One should not pull a gun unless under the circumstances the immediate use of the gun would be justified. But if upon presenting the gun the threat ends, e. g., the assailant turns and flees or immediately surrenders, one would not be justified in shooting.
This was all well explained by Vanya, Brian and dayman in posts 7, 8 and 14, respectively.
It's important to understand the legal issues.
The usual definition of assault, based on the Common Law is:
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an intentional act by one person that creates an apprehension in another of an imminent harmful or offensive contact.
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In the laws of some States this crime might be given another name. For example, in Alabama it's called "menacing." But by whatever name it is called, it is a crime in every State.
So a display of a firearm, when done for the purposes of intimidation or to secure compliance, is, in all States, an assault of some type. You are effectively putting someone in fear of an imminent harmful or offensive contact, i. e., getting shot.
Now in all States it will be a defense against a charge of assault (or any similar crime) if you establish that your assault satisfied the applicable legal standard for justification.
In most States the standard for justifying a threat of lethal force is the same as for justifying the use of lethal force in self defense. In a few, it's a somewhat lesser standard. So in all States if you threaten lethal force you will need to be able to at least show
prima facie such threat was legally justified, that is if you want to avoid a conviction for assault.