Mark McCloskey has gotten back his AR-15.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department last Thursday agreed to return the weapon to the St. Louis lawyer. McCloskey and his wife, Patricia, had been forced to surrender the rifle and a second firearm after pleading guilty to misdemeanors in 2021 for pointing the guns at protesters.
"It only took 3 lawsuits, 2 trips to the Court of Appeals and 1,847 days, but I got my AR15 back! We defended our home, were persecuted by the left, smeared by the press, and threatened with death, but we never backed down," McCloskey wrote in a post on X on Friday.
Former Gov. Mike Parson pardoned the couple in August 2021. Mark McCloskey immediately sued to get the guns back. But courts ruled that although a pardon eliminates a conviction, it does not "extinguish his guilt or the consequences flowing from his guilty plea."
The McCloskeys last year filed petitions for expungement. A judge granted the request on June 5, 2024. Under Missouri law, the couple regained all rights that had been restricted by their criminal records, including the right to own firearms. An appeals court panel upheld the decision in July.
The second firearm, a Bryco pistol, remains in the custody of the St. Louis sheriff's department. McCloskey's legal fight to have that gun returned is ongoing.
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