<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Open-carry gun case ends with diversion deal

He avoids jail time, must complete safety course

By Laura McVicker
Published: October 14, 2010, 12:00am

Kurk Kirby wouldn’t describe himself as an open-carry gun advocate. He says he likes to protect himself, and most of the time, his weapon is concealed.

But what happened March 19 got Kirby in some hot water and sparked a nationwide debate on open-carry gun rights.

So, the 27-year-old said he was relieved when the case was resolved Wednesday with no jail time and just a small fine.

The Vancouver man accused of openly carrying a gun in a way that witnesses said warranted alarm received a one-year diversion agreement from Clark County District Court Judge Darvin Zimmerman.

If he doesn’t break the law, pays a $485 fine and takes a one-time gun safety course in the next year, the charge of unlawfully carrying a weapon will be dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled, assistant city attorney Darren DeFrance said. In other words, the charge will be erased.

Such an agreement is commonly given to first-time offenders charged with misdemeanor crimes.

Kirby was expected to go to trial Oct. 28, where he said he was prepared to give an entirely different account of what happened March 19, when several witnesses claimed he looked like “Wyatt Earp, ready to draw.”

But the Sept. 30 conviction of another open-carry defendant, Joshua R. Watson — a case which had a very similar set of facts — led Kirby’s attorney, Christopher Dumm, to rethink taking the case to trial.

“We were able to see what a mock jury would do” in our case, Dumm said.

While Dumm was prepared to call witnesses to the stand to show Kirby wasn’t drawing alarm with his gun, he conceded a jury would likely find his client guilty.

“If someone’s wearing a gun openly and people get nervous, there’s this idea that that’s violating laws,” he said. “We think the law is very ambiguous.”

While it’s legal to openly carry a firearm in Washington, it’s against the law to display a weapon in a way that “warrants alarm” or “manifests an intent to intimidate.”

Initial police reports stated that witnesses who talked to police said Kirby made no menacing statements or gestures while at the supermarket in a strip mall at 5000 E. Fourth Plain Blvd. But after further questioning, those same witnesses said Kirby was “giving everyone the eyeball with his hand on the gun,” according to police reports.

Officers said Kirby was spotted outside the store, wearing a skin-tight T-shirt that didn’t cover the large, holstered Springfield Armory XP pistol.

After Wednesday’s hearing, Kirby gave a much different story. He said that after going to a tanning salon, he went to the Albertsons and decided to take off his jacket because it was hot outside. There were no problems inside the store, but when he came outside, several officers approached and cited him on suspicion of unlawfully carrying a weapon.

Kirby said he’s been embarrassed by all the media attention and added he wasn’t trying to make a statement. He has a concealed weapons permit to carry a gun to protect himself and his wife, Dawn Rae, who said she has been a victim of an assault.

“This is better than being found guilty,” he said. “This at least protects my rights to protect my family.”

Kirby said that when he got his weapons permit, he got a copy of Washington’s handgun laws so he could understand his rights. He was carrying it in his wallet the day he was approached by officers.

And “I still do” carry it, he said.

Laura McVicker: 360-735-4516 or laura.mcvicker@columbian.com.

Loading...