Prosecutors Tampered With McCloskeys’ Pistol in Order to Charge Them

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It’s being reported that Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and Assistant Circuit Attorney Chris Hinckley have tampered with evidence in order to charge Mark and Patricia McCloskey with “felony misuse of a firearm and a misdemeanor assault charge” after the couple successfully deterred a mob from killing them and destroying their home.

The pistol brandished by Mrs. McCloskey had been purposely disabled and was incapable of being fired before police seized the couple’s firearms. In Missouri, a gun in that condition cannot be used to charge someone with a crime. So “crime lab staff” reportedly reassembled the gun to make it operable, and issued charges based on that.

“In Missouri, police and prosecutors must prove that a weapon is “readily” capable of lethal use when it is used in the type of crime with which the McCloskeys have been charged.

“Assistant Circuit Attorney Chris Hinckley ordered crime lab staff members to field strip the handgun and found it had been assembled incorrectly. Specifically, the firing pin spring was put in front of the firing pin, which was backward, and made the gun incapable of firing, according to documents obtained by 5 On Your Side.

“Firearms experts then put the gun back together in the correct order and test-fired it, finding that it worked, according to the documents.

“Crime lab workers photographed the disassembly and reassembly of the gun, according to the documents.”

The McCloskeys are attorneys and had previously rendered the firearm inoperable in order to bring it into a courtroom as “a prop” in an earlier court case, so it was not capable of being fired at the time it was brandished in defense of the McCloskey home.

Because of that, the pistol couldn’t be used to charge the McCloskeys until authorities tampered with it.

Although Missouri Governor Mike Parson has stated his intention to pardon the couple if they are convicted, that does not in any way lessen the abuse of power being seen in this rather egregious prosecution, the true impetus of which seems to be anti-gun sentiment on the part of the Circuit Attorneys.

This is an important gun rights case and we will continue to monitor it.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.