You know, in my country it’s illegal to pierce cartilage with guns because of the associated risks.
The force of a gun could scatter your cartilage, leaving you with a deformed ear.
Granted, the risk of that happening is small, but why risk it.
Not to mention of course that the jewelry used in piercing guns is really not suitable for fresh piercings, especially not for piercings that can take up a year to heal.
The jewelry design makes it almost impossible to clean well and therefor has a higher infection risk.
Piercers have plenty of clients that are afraid of needles, they don’t flaunt the needles around. And if you tell your piercer, they can make sure you won’t see the needle at all.