Depends upon the jurisdiction. For instance, there was a bill in Massachusetts in 2013 that had a provision making brandishing illegal, but the bill did not pa

Depends upon the jurisdiction. For instance, there was a bill in Massachusetts in 2013 that had a provision making brandishing illegal, but the bill did not pass. There are no current statutes that I am aware of making brandishing specifically illegal in the state. Case law does reference brandishing quite a bit (mostly with a knife) and is used most often to show intent or where an assault or other crime has also taken place. (e.g. a perpetrator brandished a knife and then ordered a victim to perform an action against their will, or a perpetrator brandished a firearm to win an argument and was then found not to have a license for it). Brandishing alone could be considered an assault I suppose, but I don't really see that much in case law. I think because its pretty rare for somebody to brandish a weapon with intent to harm and then not follow up with further criminal actions.