There's a three-year suspension of one's right to apply for or have a concealed handgun permit for a few gun related charges, and brandishing is one of them. That has absolutely nothing to do with the Constitutional right to carry a firearm openly.
I've never heard of multi-year probation for a misdemeanor. The most jail time they can give for any misdemeanor is twelve months. I'd always assumed (i.e., I've never actually researched that issue) that the power of the court to impose probation couldn't outlive the possible jail sentence. Someone may be confused about what that three years was, it may not have been "probation", but the period during which one is prohibited from concealed carry. I'll have to look that one up.
Btw, Skidmark, it's not getting paid for legal advice that makes one subject to a claim for legal malpractice. Getting paid makes an attorney the attorney for the person who paid him, but that's different. Since law is one of the three "professions" at common law (i.e., occupations that have uncertain subject matter for which skill, judgment, and extended education are required in order to protect people's lives and property, namely theology, medicine, and law), and not a "business", it's the mere act of "professing" that creates liability. There is, of course, a general discourse on the subject matter, "mere opinion", and general information, which is not advice that one might reasonably rely on, and that's different from specific legal advice (e.g., "You must immediately liquidate the marital estate and give all the money to me; max out the jointly-held credit cards with cash advances, and give the proceeds to me; sell the artworks, the collections, and the silver and give the money to me; I'll put all your money in my trust account and charge against it as costs and fees arise. I'll file motions every two weeks and at the end of the year the other side will sign anything just to be rid of you, and you'll win. Now, what was that question about your husband having photographs of you with your boyfriend?"). Anyway, using phrases like "IANAL" won't protect you. If anything it could be used the other way (sort of like the sign on the fence that says, "beware of dog"). We might ought to have a caption at the top of every screen that says that any legal opinions expressed by anyone are to be taken as mere opinion and not as a substitute for either one's own legal research or consulting a local attorney.
