cant there be an actual gun that u shot much like a pistol because one of my annoyances with ranged kills was with a throwing knife couldnt u have use a bow i think i would have been fun to see him assasinated the guards that way. also with the hidden pistol under his blade i would like to see him actually pull out a pistol ad kill someone with it..... just a thought

actual pistols weren't in wide use at that time, only rich people got them to show wealth since they were so exclusive at the time. So it was really hard ENOUGH for Ezio to get a HIDDEN pistol. and if they did add it, it might make the game more of a shooter and that's what we don't want in any way. btw, this should probably be in the main forum this is for tech help

Another thought was that they most likely wanted the weapon concealed.
-Ex. You pull out a pistol, the guard sees it and immediately yells, "Assassin!"

Since its "hidden" this is what should happen.
-Ex. You load your hidden gun, lift up your arm, and point towards the guard. The guard is thinking...."WTF is up with this guy..." Then BANG! He's dead.

Well, that's my thought at least. Oh and the crossbow wasn't favored by the assassins in reality, some people also said it wasnt invented yet at that time. And the crossbow might take away a little hype from the hidden gun.

the crossbow was in use during the first crusade but services were so high for this new wave of combat it was only bought by kings to protect themselves. It became more standard for infantry such around the mid 1400's