The funny thing is that prior to 1997, I never once, not once, heard anybody say anything to the extent of "Oh, it sure is a shame Lucas made Han Solo such a cold blooded killer, otherwise his character would have been pretty cool." It is such a bunch of crap. The scene worked great, looked great, it was probably one of the movies most memorable traits. It is stupid how society gets so sensitive about things. Back in the 80s Han's blaster under the table thing was so smooth, everyone loved it. Today, "oh my, what violence. He wasn't even provoked." So now we have a Star Wars saga where Han Solo is a big softy who hesitates to shoot until having been shot at first, and Darth Vader is a mass murderer of children, never actually having killed a real Jedi before until Obi-Wan.

Also, just a hint of advice to everybody. If ever you find yourself in a simular situation to Han's, if you value your life more than you value the life of the guy holding the gun on you, then by all means don't hesitate to pull the trigger. If you wait for him to do it first, then it is already over. And no matter what anybody says, you are not a cold blooded killer, you were just acting in self defense, the gun in his hand proves that.