Precisely my thinking. Doesn't mean I'm happy about it though. If he knew he had no case, let me keep my gun and dismiss it outright.
Of course not. Contingency is something I will look into once this case is completely concluded.
Don't worry. It will take more than a knee jerk rebuke from random people on the internet to squash my love of liberty.
PS: I don't know much about GRNC, but have no major issues with them. I'm sure they're not perfect, just as the NRA is not perfect. Currently, I'm only an NRA member, but I'm looking at Gun Owners of America also.
Thank you for your interest in the matter at hand. The case never went to court. It never will. It will be dismissed, meaning there will be no resolution. Several posters have made clear their feeling that this somehow sends the message to police that it is okay to continue to arrest individuals under similar situations as mine. It probably costs the state more than my (not insignificant) lawyer fees to arrest, charge, jail, release, arraign, and then dismiss a case. The state will have to return my bail bond, meaning they get not a dollar from me in this whole deal - so there is at least some motivation for this not to continue.
To answer your original questions, the effect is that we know little about how they would have presented their case. My gut tells me (based on certain pieces of information not shared here) that they made the arrest, and then went through the book looking for things to justify it with. So if I spoke with the officers, I'd expect their version of probable cause to be fairly weak.
The rifle was in a scabbard. Essentially a soft bodied case with an open end. A great way to transport a rifle securely without totally sacrificing access to it.
Mostly this discussion -here and elsewhere- teaches me that regardless of what kind of game the gun community talks, their opinion (as a whole) and reaction to the sight of a gun is no different than your average uninformed, big media indoctrinated citizen. The disconnect between what I see at the legislative level -that is, the increasing protections for our gun rights- and in talking with the voting people sensitive to the issue kind of has me scratching my head. But I guess I can't complain.
I wish you all the best in OpenCarry forum, but I think I'll be satisfying my firearm interests elsewhere.