The St. Louis couple who brandished firearms at a group of protesters outside their home violated basic firearm safety rules and narrowly avoided a “very disastrous result,” experts told The Post on Monday.
“It seemed clear that they had very limited knowledge of firearm safety and handling,” said Charles Stephenson, a former FBI agent and firearms instructor.
Stephenson said that while husband Mark McCloskey wisely kept his finger off the trigger of his AR-15 style rifle, wife Patricia McCloskey did not take as much caution when wielding a silver-colored pistol.
“The woman had a bit of a limp and it looked like she was actually targeting individuals on the street,” he said.
“Aiming the barrel of a gun at someone with the finger on the trigger … could have had a very disastrous result.”
Stephenson, who heads the Orion Group’s private investigative agency in Overland Park, Kansas, also noted that Mark McCloskey’s rifle was presumably loaded with high-powered ammunition that can “travel a mile away” and penetrate buildings.
Instead of keeping the gun level, as Mark McCloskey did, “I would like it to be aimed at the ground or in the air with my hand on the pistol grip,” he added.
David Lombardo, president of SAFER USA, a firearms training school in Chicago, said “I can see the desire for a middle-aged couple to be armed,” but noted that “no one really approached them” during the Sunday night showdown.
“The part that I would be concerned about is pointing a gun at someone,” he said.
“You cannot shoot someone for a property crime. If you don’t feel like your life is in danger, you really shouldn’t be pointing a gun at someone. “
Lombardo, who also works as a firearms consultant and expert witness, further questioned the wisdom of the confrontation and said: “That is a pretty scary situation and people don’t always think as they should.”
The incident unfolded when protesters passed the McCloskeys “Midwest Palace” mansion in a gated community on their way to Mayor Lyda Krewson’s home to demand their resignation for divulging the names and addresses of residents who they favor the underfunding of the St. Louis Police Department.
Mark McCloskey, a lawyer, defended his actions on Monday during an interview with a local television station, saying: “They threatened us with our lives, threatened us with burning a house, burning my office building and even the life of our dog. “
“It was, it was as bad as it can be,” he told NBC affiliate KDSK.
“I mean, those of you who know, I really thought I was storming the Bastille, that we’d be dead and burn down the house and that there was nothing we could do about it.”
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