This! All this.Neither "printing" or even accidental exposure of a firearm were ever violations of section 42.01 of the Penal Code (Disorderly Conduct) prior to OC (1 Jan 2016).
The wording has always been very clear..."(a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly: (8) displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm."
Much like the myths surrounding OC (claiming it makes one "more of a target"), those who said the same about printing or accidental exposure could never provide one iota of hard evidence to where that was the case. No one was ever charged for either, despite claims that it could lead to an arrest.
By the way, your "decided advantage of surprise" also translates to increased time in drawing your weapon. It takes extra steps and time in situations where fractions of a second could make a significant difference. I have seen many conceal carriers who couldn't bring their weapon on target within 1.5 seconds (Google "Tueller Drill" to see the significance of that time).
Given the fact that the vast majority of conceal carriers have never actually trained by drawing their weapon and employing it on an advancing target leads to the their misconception that they would be able to do so under stressful situations.
Standing at a range, taking your time to aim and shoot, then being impressed by the accuracy of it all does not translate to the same results one would have in a true self-defense situation.
In fact, those who mock law enforcement for the high number of "misses" after a shootout only adds to the fact that most civilians have no concept of what stresses are in play for such a scenario.
So this "decided advantage of surprise" is negated by the numerous other factors working against an inexperienced, poorly trained individual in most self-defense situations. There is no great advantage of conceal carry other than it was the only way licensed individuals could carry a handgun in public prior to OC.
If the bad guy is coming after you, the time it takes to un-conceal, draw and bring weapon to bear negates any perceived advantage the element of surprise gives you.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk