First, why would I give credence to any casual conversation I might overhear in a store? They are strangers to me, and their idle chatter is no more valid than any other gossip or hearsay as I might encounter throughout the day.

If I see a crowd of armed men showing off around a public venue, my impression is that they're about to commit a violent crime, I'd call 911 and let the cops decide what to do. if I see a soldier come out and shake hands, I would think his bravado was misplaced even if he might be attempting defuse the armed mob and calm them down before they start shooting.

Afterward, I would think those armed men were incredibly immature, thoughtless and irresponsible and they had no regard for other people or public safety. I'd probably light up social media with rants about some harebrained jerks who were grandstanding with guns and getting off on scaring people. Their foolish showboating might appear to be nothing more than egotistical performance art, but it only terrorizes the customers who came to shop but instead found an armed gang of vigilantes blocking the sidewalk.

To anyone who see them, they are just a bunch of armed strangers whose motives, background, training and skillset, is unknown, why would anyone trust them? If a bad guy approached them, what are they going to to? Do they all start shooting at once, firing into shoppers, the crowded parking lot and the busy street beyond, and shooting up the stores across the street? Who knows!

No, the whole premise is a disaster waiting to happen. You portray the gun exhibitionists as cops, as if the public would know that, or that excuses their reckless behavior, but cops have done some spectacularly ugly and stupid things under the cover of authority so there is no saving grace in that modifier. They demonstrated no regard for the peace of mind or safety of people who might have gotten in the way if their vanity gun project went awry.