Pistols are small caliber, are inaccurate beyond certain distances, have far fewer bullets than any other weapon in the RS arsenal, and can only fired at the rate of one bullet per squeeze. It's no surprise that no one in their right mind would use their pistol as a primary weapon. The primary weapons have more range, can fire faster, have larger ammo capacity, and mostly more powerful. Clearly, pistols are not your first pick in a firefight. Here, someone decides to use the pistol against an enemy after their ammo runs out.
Pistols are risky, by anyone's definition.
While pistols should never be your first pick in a Rogue Spear assault, the reality is that the pistol is actually a remarkable good weapon in Rogue Spear. The most prominent use for the pistol nowadays is in the middle of dances or when reloading your primary weapon simply isn't feasible. In either condition, you need to get a gun out NOW to at least fend off an attacker. Arming your secondary is simply that much faster than reloading your primary. Indeed, many if not most people in Rogue Spear use the pistol as a back up for these situations, with a great deal of effectiveness.