imported post
expvideo wrote:
Oh, and contacting the Sheriff's Department is going to get you a vague and dishonest answer. They'll tell you what they want to, which is "don't carry a gun... just to be safe (lol)". They aren't lawyers and their advice is rarely correct. It's more of a "we'd rather you think it means this" than a "it means this". At least that's always been my experience with King County Sheriffs. I actually had a sheriff's deputy once be confused when I told him that you had to be 21 to carry a concealed weapon. He said "really? I thought it was 18!" and he was serious.
Long story short, know the law and don't expect the police to. Don't get me wrong, they're mostly good guys, but they didn't go to law school and they can't always know every law and it's propper interpretation. They do the best they can, but legal advice is best when it comes from a lawyer.
The fact is, the answer you will get will depend greatly on who you talk and what their position is. While this may sound bad on the surface, you need to understand that there are over 300KCSO hundred employees who are not commisioned officers. Those are usually the folks answering the phones. They are quite possibly not going to have accurate info, but that doesn't mean they won't try to be helpful and may offer what they believe to be the case.
I work in the KCSO comm center, and we are usually the ones that get these calls. The answer you
should get from one of my folks (all non-commisioned) is that they cannot answer your question or give you advice. The reason is, as expvideo says above, is that is could be considered legal advice and none of use are lawyers. Explaining and interpreting the RCW is considered giving legal advice. Our job is answer calls for reports of crime or general information (what time is the Precinct open? Who do I call about sex offender registration? How do I get a copy of a police report? etc.)
The cop's job is to investigate crimes and when he believes there has been a violation, respond accordingly. Then the prosecutor makes a determination what if any charges are actually filed. Then a judge or jury make the final determination. While we 911 folks know a lot about the law, and the officers know even more, none of us are lawyers or judges.Yes, mistakes are made. On the upside, they don't get made very often and they are almost always honest mistakes. Everyone in the process is, afterall, human.
You'd be surprised how many calls we get with folks wanting to play "what if" questions. There are just too many variables and unfortunately folks aren't always forthright and honest with the information they provide.We are not going to be in the position of telling someone they can (or can't) carry a gun based on the set of circumstances they decide to provide us with.
Now, the officers themselves
should know and I think in general KCSO has a pretty good reputation. The unfortunate fact of urban/suburban life is if we get a MWAG call, we are going to have to send someone out. It is pretty much a liability/CYA issue. If it turns out he is a bad guy and does something, and we didn't go to check it out, than we have Jim Forman and the PI all up in our stuff.
I can tell you when we do get such calls, the folks at 911 are trained to ask the questions about where the gun is, if it is in a holster or out, and what the person is doing or how they are behaving. This info is given to the officer responding.
I've worked there almost 16 years and I've never heard anyone in the comm center tell anyone not to carry a gun. If someone ask about the particulars, we will give them info on how to apply for a CPL and or refer them to the RCW.
My advice to everyone is if you call anyone in "the government" about anything, get a name (or ID number) of who you talk to, and write down the date and time of the call. If you are given bad information or treated poorly, very little can be done without being able to track down the source of the info.
):
