Well, that is discouraging. Apparently this particular individual has never heard of State vs. Cassad. I'm very curious as to what their response will be.
State v. Casad is not a published opinion, It holds no legal weight and is not binding.
The statue in question reads
It shall be unlawful for any person to carry, exhibit, display, or draw any firearm, dagger, sword, knife or other cutting or stabbing instrument, club, or any other weapon apparently capable of producing bodily harm, in a manner, under circumstances, and at a time and place that either manifests an intent to intimidate another or that warrants alarm for the safety of other persons
It does not state "open carry is illegal"
But look at the bolded part, "in a manner" "under circumstances" "warrants (as opposed to "causes") Alarm.
This has been mentioned before on the forums, watch this video
[video=youtube;Hn_BjXzLY1k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn_BjXzLY1k[/video]
Obviously pickles CAUSE her alarm, but pickles do not WARRANT alarm. her fear is irrational.
under circumstances generally means the state must prove that the circumstances warranted alarm
State v Spencer a court upheld Mr. Spencers conviction on the basis that his carrying a AK style rifle with an attached magazine down the street late at night avoiding eye contact with passing cars "warranted alarm" but they had a golden oppurtunity to say that carrying a firearm in and of itself warrants alarm, but instead
the statute
only prohibits the carrying or displaying of weapons when objective circumstances would warrant alarm in a reasonable person.
4
Thus, the restriction applies only in a limited number of situations. Furthermore, the prohibition is not so vague that it would
prevent persons of common intelligence from ever carrying a weapon on the street.
This language would seem to imply that even in affirming Spencer's conviction that the statute is not and never was intended to control open carry.
If Open carry were blatantly illegal how come most of the people on this forum haven't been charged? The State Patrol certainly saw many OCers on the steps of the capital building and did nothing even when a hoplophobe complained to them, how come Vitaeus and Bat and 1245A aren't awaiting trial for OCing at a public event hosted by the Port Orchard Police in front of 15 or so LEOs of assorted agencies?
To the best of my knowledge, only Spencer, Josh and Kurk Kirby have been prosecuted, and only spencer and Josh were convicted. Certainly Bellingham PD has a reason to silence SVG and ring him up on charges, but they haven't successfully prosecuted him.
Also that does not appear to be an "opinion" and AGO can only be requested by state or county elected officials, the AGs office can and will provide general legal responses, but does not provide official opinions or legal advice, therefore I do not believe that corrospondence you recieved constitutes legal advice or holds any weight in court