Five Years Later, the McCloskeys Still Haven't Gotten Their Guns Back

https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2025/07/02/five-years-later-the-
mccloskeys-still-havent-gotten-their-guns-back-n1229146

I know the wheels of justice grind slowly, but this is ridiculous. 

It's been almost five years since Mark and Patricia McCloskey had their 
lawfully-owned guns taken from them and were charged by St. Louis 
prosecutor Kimberly Garner with unlawful use of a weapon for displaying 
firearms outside their home as a large swarm of protestors marched through 
their neighborhood just a few weeks after the city's deadly riots in early 
June, 2020. 

It's been more than four years since the couple pleaded guilty to 
misdemeanor offenses, and almost four years since the pair were pardoned 
by then-Missouri governor Mike Parson. 

Shortly thereafter, Mark McCloskey sued to get their guns back, but was 
rebuffed by a circuit court judge and the Missouri Court of Appeals, which 
upheld the lower court ruling in December, 2023. 

"Missouri law is unequivocal that a gubernatorial pardon obliterates the 
fact of the conviction, not the fact of guilt," the appeals court said.

"The guilty plea ... triggered the guns' forfeiture," the court said. 
"Since McCloskey's guilt remains, it follows that he is not entitled to 
the return of the weapons."

Keep in mind that Mark and Patricia McCloskey can both go into a gun store 
and legally purchase a firearm, which makes the judges' decision that he's 
not entitled to get his guns back even more ridiculous. 

Mark McCloskey sued St. Louis in January, 2022 over the decision not to 
return his guns, but they also sought to expunge their criminal records, 
which would formally remove their guilty plea from the public record and 
should allow them to get their guns back. Last June a St. Louis County 
judge granted that request over the objections of city officials and the 
local prosecutor, who claimed they're a "continued threat to public 
safety" who have "shown no remorse for the impact of their actions." 

Amazingly, even after that decision the St. Louis Police Department wasn't 
ready to give up. The department appealed the decision to the Eastern 
District Missouri Court of Appeals, once again arguing that the McCloskeys 
are a threat to public safety. On Tuesday the court released its decision 
denying the department's request and upholding the expungement. 

A three-judge panel found the circuit court judge did not err in 
determining the couple met the criteria for expungement after they gained 
notoriety for displaying their weapons outside of their Central West End 
mansion as protesters moved through the neighborhood.

Chief Judge John Torbitzky, who authored the seven-page decision, 
dismissed the police department’s claims that the two were a threat to 
public safety. 

“The circuit court provided an adequate opportunity for the department to 
make an offer of proof, but the department failed to make use of that 
opportunity,” Torbitzky wrote.

McCloskey's lawsuit against the city has been on hold for awhile, and the 
next hearing isn't scheduled to take place until December of this year. If 
the St. Louis PD decides to appeal yesterday's decision to the Missouri 
Supreme Court it could drag out the return of McCloskey's guns well into 
2026, if not beyond. 

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabriel E. Gore claims to "believe in fairness" 
and the opportunity for non-violent offenders to "get their lives back on 
track." If he truly believes that, he should buck the Democrat machine in 
St. Louis and side with the McCloskeys in their legal fight to have their 
guns returned. 

That will never happen, but the McCloskeys are almost certain to 
(eventually) win their fight to have their records expunged and their 
firearms returned. Five years is far too long, though, and justice delayed 
is justice denied. 


-- 
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump.  We look 
forward to America being great again.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that 
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Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.

Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama 
/ Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the 
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queer liberal democrat donors.