In this state we have open carry, and with an infringing "permit", concealed carry.
If you have the "permit", is "printing" really an issue? "Oops, my concealed pistol just transitioned to open!"
Yes, it was stressed repeatedly in the class I took. The license card itself is mainly to save your legal ass if a POlice officer stops you. The first words out of your mouth MUST be "I have a CPL, and am carrying a (insert name of weapon) (where you are carrying it)." If you don't print, the POlice don't have a reason to stop you. If you don't print, Joe Civilian can't complain about what he can't see.
"Open carry" brings the risk of someone in the POlice department that he'll hassle you with a "creating a public nuisance" if he wants. OTOH, a valid CCW also allows you the luxury of carrying any loaded weapon of your choice on your car seat next to you, among other benefits. With "open carry", you still have to unload and lock up your weapon before you move your car.
I'm not looking for any hassle from the local POlice, because I may need the blessings of the chief in the near future. The Michigan attorney general released a "finding" on the state web site last Saturday saying Michigan law says what it means, and the state will no longer veto any inquiries from BATFE about granting someone a federal tax stamp for silencers. Reliable sources say that other NFA items (full auto, SBR, etc.) will also be unopposed. That last hurdle will be your local CLEO. And I'm hoping a NFA trust will keep him out of the picture, totally.
I'll know more in a few weeks. Either this has slipped in below the radar screen of the liberals and RINOs, or they're working on a campaign of mass hysteria to launch when the time is right. They had multiple cows when "shall issue" passed, and they'd consider legal automatic weapons to be even more series.
My first item would be to convert my Sig P556 into a legal SBR. I figure $100 for common M4-type stock, $200 for the tax stamp, and $500 for a Class 2 manufacturer to do the 10 minute re-assembly and engrave his name and new serial number on the lower.