"Equip gun" model/animation

I’m making a 2 player FPS (shocker!) and want to have the player models show the gun equipped sensibly.

I know how to deal with the whole instantiate models thing, but the character should have different stances and animations if he’s holding a pistol compared to if hes holding a rifle… how would I go about this?

For the player controlling him it’s easy (show the gun and hands, job done) but to show the other player from player 1’s perspective has stumped me.

Thanks

To do this, if I were to go about it, I would set a variable in the player stating the type of gun (pistol, rifle etc). I would sync this variable to the other player and have the code run different animation based on what the variable was.

For instance (this is not going to be valid code, just a rough outline):

        If (player[1].weapon == "pistol"){
            player.aniamtion == pistolstance;
        }else if(player[1].weapon == "assault"){
            player.animation == riflestance;
        }

Again that is only a guide as to what to do and is not valid code.
I hope it helps.

Signed, Vandie