When the event happened I was loudly and roundly criticized for saying that the McCloskey's were idiots. I said that they had acted stupidly from a strategic standpoint, a tactical standpoint, and possibly a legal standpoint. Waving the bang stick around tends to get charges filed. I pointed out that in Georgia, they would have been arrested same day for Aggravated Assault.
I was told that they were heroes, and deserved our admiration. I was right about the Strategic, and right about the Tactical, and now I have been proven right by the filing of charges on the legal issue.
Now what should they have done? Gone inside and called the police, and then kept their weapons at hand INSIDE the house. If the trespassers threatening violence had tried to enter the house, then you can shoot them legally. You have a leg to stand on, you are defending yourself in your home. Self Defense comes into play, and if like me you have USCCA insurance than they'll pay for your legal defense. However, if you are out in the yard waving the bang stick around in violation of the law, even if it is a chicken shit charge, chances are that USCCA will try to weasel out of paying saying you were committing a crime.
People need to be smart when it comes to guns, and these idiots were not. Now they have the expense of a legal defense, and their ability to purchase firearms in the foreseeable future is in jeopardy. If anyone lends them or sells them a gun privately, they will be committing a federal felony. Fine if they want more legal problems.