Instead of trying to defend the advisability of carrying an unloaded weapon, why not just admit that loaded guns, even those under your control, make you nervous. We'd all understand that, and no one would criticize you for it.
If carrying a loaded weapon made me nervous, I would never carry a revolver. But I do so frequently.
The semis I carry range from safety to no safety, safety up to safety down, SA to DA/SA to DAO, hammer to striker. Empty chamber, safety off makes them all the same. In this case, I prefer 'same' to 'different'.
It isn't carrying them loaded chamber that makes me uncomfortable, it is the recognition that in the many transitions from Condition Three to Condition One and back there is a likelihood of an AD/ND at some point in time. I've been carrying pretty much every day for 10-11 years, and intermittently for several years prior, and I don't leave my semis in Condition One when they are in the car or safe. By my calculations I've avoided around 8,000 to 10,000 thumb-slip AD/ND opportunities during that time by carrying empty chamber. I've simply made the calculation that such an incident is more likely than the chance that I'll find myself in a situation where chambering a round is not possible due to constraints of time or physical ability. If I lived in Denver I'd carry loaded chamber. When my wife and I spend the night in Denver, that's exactly what I do.
Perhaps you've never experienced such an event. Good for you. I had one with a Marlin levergun at the range, Big Brother perforated his car with one (in 30+ years of CCW for him) and I know of others that had have experienced such an incident. Carry long enough and there is a good chance it will happen to you, too.
