I would've went down and talked to the sheriff in the first place. I had this issue with silencers here. Now, granted the sheriff still won't sign it still, but he did tell me where to go and encouraged me to open carry a couple times in the conversation. Problem being as I told him, I'd love to open carry, but the cops aren't taught shit about it. So if they see me they're likely to draw and tell me to get on the ground. He kind'a laughed at that like "Yeah, probably." Don't waste your time on the phone though. Maybe you'll get a straight answer now, but it's a lot easier to say "no" over the phone than face to face/ man to man.