Excuse my bad manners, I didn't see you were new to the thread, rtb47. So please accept these greetings from sunny, dry Arizona, and welcome to OCDO.
I'll try to tackle what I feel qualified to answer from your latest post:
I do not OC or AC. I have a leather CC vest and keep my .38 in the left pocket. It is very comfortable. I am older and so if attacked by someone I could easily feign a heart attack and pretend to be grabbing my heart but actually be grabbing the gun in my vest. I am pretty comfortable with this approach. In addition I frequently wear my NRA cap as I think someone would be less likely to attack me since they might assume that I am carrying.
So you want people to ASSUME you are carrying, yet do not OC? Not everyone notices what is written on caps, so you may look like a nice, soft target to the violent criminal element that exists in the world. As to feigning a heart attack, it sounds like you're making the same tired arguments (I say "tired arguments" because we keep hearing them here from the CC-only bunch) of "CC gives you a tactical advantage" and "if you OC, you'll be shot first!" BOTH of these arguments have been thoroughly discredited on various threads on here, but these are the synopses:
1) "element of surprise" only benefits the ATTACKER, and "the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting", meaning the best defense scenario is the one that is avoided by discouraging the assailant from attacking BEFORE he attacks.
2) see last part of #1
I never seriously thought about or have a strong desire to OC. The reason that I made that suggestion is because
I see that some people (especially rifle carriers) have been having some serious legal problems when they OC. Although I do not have a strong desire to OC myself, I genuinely feel empathy for those exercise their rights and get into serious legal problems as a result. For example Mack Worley:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVTXkyhdkuw
So I decided to suggest something that could alleviate those problems while at the same time allow people like Mack to make some sort of statement to others, whether it be to warn away would-be aggressors or be as a message to others to believe in and practice 2nd amendment rights.
These problems are the fault of the ignorant masses that choose to remain ignorant (I say choose because in the digital/information age, one must really work hard at remaining ignorant when so much information is only a mouse click and a Wiki entry away). As to changing government, sometimes lawsuits are the only way to have people see the frivolous nature of persecuting armed LAW-ABIDING citizens (LACs).
To address the second bolded part of your post: what better way to make a statement to the ignorant masses ("I'm an armed LAC, and I just want to be able to protect myself and loved ones as I go about my daily life") and to deter would-be assailants than to OC?
I don't understand why some people on your forum seem to be antagonistic about my suggestion. If you had were having car trouble and all you had was a screwdriver and wrench and I stopped by to help you and offered to loan you my vice grip pliers if you needed it, would you tell me "bad idea - really bad idea"? I know I would not, even if I did not need it. All I am offering is an alternative way to accomplish your goals.
I still have not heard much about the fact that AC would bring in the 1st amendment, which even activist liberal judges like. Any legal scholars want to comment on this aspect?
Your analogy would have been better if it included the fact that the tools in the possession of OCDO are doing the job without making unnecessary ruckus with the neighbors by having signs in the middle of the road that said something akin to "I'm fixing my car right here by the side of the road."
As to the applicability of the the First Amendment, here is a reference about Open Carry as a symbol protected by 1A (#38)
http://www.scribd.com/mobile/doc/193537336