Mark and Patricia McCloskey defending their St. Louis home June 28, 2020 (Video screenshot)
Veteran conservative columnist Cal Thomas says the prosecution of a St. L Louis couple who armed themselves to deter Black Lives Matter marchers threatening their property provides Democrats with an example of how to confiscate guns legally.
For years, he explained, "conservative groups and especially the National Rifle Association have been warning that the government would find a way to confiscate the guns of law-abiding Americans. Many dismissed what they regarded as a scare tactic designed to raise money."
But the charging of the McCloskeys with "felony unlawful use of a weapon for displaying guns during a racial injustice protest outside their mansion" shows those fears are "well founded," he said.
State Attorney General Eric Schmitt is trying to have the charges brought by prosecutor Kim Gardner dismissed.
He argued in an interview with "Fox News @ Night that the right to self-defense is "deeply rooted" in the Constitution, and the state has "castle doctrine" upholding broad rights for people to protect their lives, families and homes.
"At a time when there's calls to defund the police, at a time with skyrocketing violent crime rates – including here in Missouri and in St. Louis – we've got a prosecutor now targeting individuals for exercising their fundamental rights under the Second Amendment," Schmitt said.
Schmitt told Fox News the McCloskeys live on a private street and "the charges amount to nothing more than a political prosecution."
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson also said he would consider pardoning the couple should they be charged.
The McCloskeys said the protesters broke through an iron gate marked "No Trespassing" and "Private Street" and that some were violently threatening them.
They stood in front of their home holding weapons. The rifle was operational when turned over the police, but the handgun was not, so police repaired it, according to reports, so an additional charge could be filed.
And police have seized the weapons.
Here's the incident:
In a video posted to social media, peaceful protesters in St. Louis calling for police reforms walked past a couple brandishing firearms as they were ordered to stay away from the couple’s home https://t.co/bYl06iAiTo pic.twitter.com/wOZ1Wr3yac
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 29, 2020
Thomas wrote that Gardner has it backwards. It was not the McCloskeys whose actions "risked creating a violent situation."
"The McCloskeys have some powerful defenders, including President Trump and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, who has said he will pardon the couple if they are convicted," he wrote.
"This case is not only important on its own but demonstrates what could happen if Joe Biden wins the presidency."
He recalled that Joe Biden told onetime Democratic candidate Beto O'Rourke he would be the one to "take care of the gun problem," after O'Rourke promised, "Hell yes, we are going to take your AR-15."
Thomas wrote: "Having established a precedent that the government has a right to confiscate a weapon owned by a law-abiding citizen, what other guns would O'Rourke (and Biden) come for and on what grounds? What would stop them if more liberal judges are named to the courts and they ignore or re-interpret the Second Amendment?"
He said the Missouri case "should be a lesson learned about one of the many dangers of a Joe Biden presidency."
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