I searched the forums about any information about this but unfortunately i couldn't find any so i'll post how it's possible. As it is now, there's a small bug/feature with their rendering queue which makes it possible to get your weapon and misc hand held item visible.
Zoom in to first person view and unequipt your hand held items, then just re-equipt them. The models will be set to rendered and voila, your swords, wands etc will become visible and animated which seriously, increases the immersion immensly.
It's also possible to have a completely empty weapon set to toggle to when in first person mode and then to the weapons you want to be visible.
I've reported this feature/bug so we'll se how long it'll be in.
C


So, if you like it, why not get enough people and support to ask ANet to make it a permanent feature?