No sane human being is curious wether a firearm is more intimidating than a sword.
I don't know about that. The majority of people have been probably been cut, know what being cut feels like, how a cut bleeds, and how long a cut takes to heal. Being threatened with a sword could be much more intimidating because it's more "real".
On the other hand, most people (present company excluded) haven't been shot, haven't seen the immediate effects of a gunshot wound, and haven't had to deal with aftermath. The experience most have had is probably though some glorified version of it in TV, movies, or video games. In some ways, most people have been more desensitized to the idea of being shot than to the idea of being cut.
Yes a gun would probably win vs a sword, but for intimidating unarmed people in the street? If I had six people coming at me, I think I'd prefer a crappy sword over some crappy small calibre Saturday Night Special.