My $.02.

Does the good outweigh the bad?  That's what you need to decide upon, is one's safety worth up to $10000, and/or 9 months?
As far as applying weapon value to fines, I've never head of it personally.  From what I understand, the fine is negotiated, with said value of a weapon being immaterial.  Lose a $200 Makarov, or an $800 Kimber, it doesn't reflect on the fine.  
In my experience, a loaded firearm withing reach constitutes a CCW, whereas an unloaded one is not CCW, however, my source of this info is not the end all king of law.  Discretion is a HUGE thing.  If you do get tagged for it though, how far are you willing to go to fight it?  Guess it depends on how much money you've got

As far as advice form LE, ask an officer you don't know.  Ones you know personally may give you a tainted response.

Oh, and a friend has told me numerous times, "Don't do stupid shit".  

Quoted: a loaded firearm withing reach constitutes a CCW, whereas an unloaded one is not CCW,

Yup

As far as advice form LE, ask an officer you don't know.  Ones you know personally may give you a tainted response.

Heh.  I'm "tainted."  

Quoted: Quoted: a loaded firearm withing reach constitutes a CCW, whereas an unloaded one is not CCW, Yup

Loaded or unloaded meets the defenition of CCW according to State v. Dundon, G.

The actor must have immediate access to the weapon.
The actor must be aware of the weapon's presence.
The weapon must be "hidden from ordinary observation".

Note that there is no requirement that the gun be loaded or unloaded.

941.23 is a strict liability offense.  A cased, unloaded gun sitting anywhere in the passenger compartment of a vehicle, while meeting the safe transport regs, is still technically a 941.23 violation.
Edit to provide a link to the case law.

FMD, you're absolutely correct.  (IIRC, I even refer to this in the legal FAQ.)  I was referring to how it's interpreted on the street.  I should have clarified.  My bad.

Quoted: 941.23 is a strict liability offense.  A cased, unloaded gun sitting anywhere in the passenger compartment of a vehicle, while meeting the safe transport regs, is still technically a 941.23 violation. Edit to provide a link to the case law.

A few years back, when the PPA was a topic at the spring fish & game hearings, carrying a firearm in a vehicle in a legal manner was discussed at length. In attendance were 4 or 5 DNR wardens, the county sheriff, and a former DA. The consensus was that a firearm in a case, located ANYWHERE within a vehicle is technically a violation of 941.23. Just as guns in a gun safe or nightstand drawer in your home were also a technical violation of 941.23 prior to Hamdan because they were hidden from plain view, a gun in the trunk (cased or not) is hidden from plain view also. Hidden from plain view is still hidden from plain view, regardless of the circumstances. Hamdan changed that situation for "in your home" but it did nothing for vehicle transportation.

If putting an unloaded/cased firearm under your seat is illegal because it's now "hidden", then putting it in the trunk is technically hiding it also.  The consensus of the wardens/sheriff/DA was that the only technically legal way to transport a firearm in a vehicle in WI is to have it secured to the outside of the vehicle (thus out of reach but not "Concealed" by the trunk lid), and in a transparent gun case (to comply with the "casing" requirements in the DNR statute, without hiding it from plain view).

I've never seen a transparent gun case, but I guess one could be made from clear garbage bags or a shower curtain.... and then duct-taped to your hood. Any firearm "in" a vehicle is concealed and a 941.23 violation, and the only reason nobody's charged is simply due to LEO or prosecutorial disgression. So your RKBA in WI is worthless unless you ride a horse. You cannot legally transport a firearm in any motor vehicle in WI under the current laws, and you only get by due to the "disgression" of the govt employees who enforce those laws. Acting under "disgression" is not exercising a right.