One of the little realized plus's of concealed carry is it's surreptitious nature. No one knows you have it. If you are in a business that is suddenly being robbed or in which something illegal happens you can choose whether to take action or not. You are probably not the target and the perpetrators don't know you are armed. In the even you suddenly feel in jeopardy or a family members life is threatened you can take action and it will be a surprise. The element of surprise can be the edge of victory in a confrontation.

You give that up if you decide to carry a 3 lb non aerodynamic brick, which is what a pistol without a round in the chamber is. In order to get into action you not only have to drawn but then you have to rack in the top round on the magazine which can't be done very quietly with the majority of the weapons today. If you try to do it slowly and quietly with many types of weapons you will be introducing a malfunction in a large majority of the cases. That's why people are taught not to ride the slide forward when loading a semi. To just rack it normally lets everyone know exactly what just happened and will probably draw fire.

I know that many people are products of their early military training where handguns are carried without rounds in the chamber. This is especially true if you trained with the 1911A1. MP's even carried the weapons with the magazine out and in their pouch and then had to load a mag and rack the slide if trouble occurred....at least on post stateside during the late 60's and early 70's.

As a former chief firearms instructor for a major state agency and for the state LEO academy I would not only argue against having no round in the chamber as a matter of general policy, but would state my opinion that if you want to carry a 3 lb non aerodynamic brick on your belt then you don't need nor should you be issued a concealed carry permit. My reasoning is that in your lengthy and loud deployment of your weapon, you are inviting people to shoot in your direction and it is highly likely that you will get yourself or someone else hurt or killed when and if you do. That action would also bring a tremendous liability upon you personally and also upon your instructor and certifying body. The only safe course is to keep the weapon holstered and do nothing. Hence no need for the weapon or permit.