"Brandishing" is the unnecessary and unlawful display of a defensive firearm. So, whether the gun worked or not, they should NOT have been charged with brandishing to begin with. They were being threatened with bodily harm.

But, I digress. The world has gone crazy...

~Bonnie
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https://americanmilitarynews.com/2020/07/reports-prosecutors-tampered-with-st-louis-couples-gun-to-charge-them

The handgun Patricia McCloskey used to defend her home during a June 28 confrontation with protesters was inoperable at the time the St. Louis crime lab received it, but the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office ordered it reassembled before announcing charges against the couple for felony unlawful use of a weapon and fourth-degree assault offenses

KSDK 5 News first reported documents showing one of the firearms confiscated from the McCloskeys “could not be test fired as submitted.” The document goes on to state that “at the request of [Assistant Circuit Attorney] Chris Hinckley, the firearm was field stripped and found to have been assembled incorrectly.” The crime lab determined the handgun’s firing pin spring was placed in front of the firing pin, which itself was backwards, rendering the gun incapable of firing.

Missouri law requires prosecutors prove a firearm is “readily” capable of lethal use when it is used in crimes such as those for which the couple was charged. Hinckley then ordered the crime lab to reassemble the gun properly, according to KSDK 5.

“The firearms was reassembled properly, test fired and functioned as designed,” the document stated. “No additional defects were observed.”