>Most states prevent you from drawing without firing, because it is considered brandishing / threatening.

I'm not sure how many other states work this way, but in Florida, brandishing is considered non-deadly force as a matter of law[0]. So the standard for self-defense is different between brandishing and firing: deadly force like firing requires a higher degree of threat to be considered justified self-defense[1].

[0] https://reason.com/volokh/2023/05/24/loading-and-openly-carr...

[1] http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Displ...