I was trooping today and I got asked if my gun was real, so "yes", then "if it's real, fire it"... so, "not indoors" and then "Ok, shoot the windows out, then the laser goes outside".
Kids can be inventive.
But I never, ever, ever hand my gun to a child. We are for show, we don't need to give ideas. Besides my gun is nearly all hand tooled metal, it probably weighs more than most kids.
If I see a kid who is scared, I step backwards, simple. I don't break character, but I do enough to alleviate the situation.