This is a very nice concept which to me, is best suited for Police. I could imagine where during the chase, Zhora might encounter a Police or Riot Officer, subdued them and grabbed their side-arm. In the next scene, she could be seen removing the barrel (which I can assume to be some sort of riot suppressing device) and return fire…
At first glance, one would assume that this was the snub-nosed blaster after the ‘reveal’ but it is not.