© 2025 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

St. Louis Police return rifle to Mark McCloskey, lawyer who pointed gun at protesters

A Missouri appeals court on Tuesday upheld a request by Mark and Patricia McCloskey to expunge their criminal records for a June 2020 incident, pictured here, in which they pointed guns at protesters who had entered their private street in the Central West End.
Bill Greenblatt
/
UPI
A Missouri appeals court on Tuesday upheld a request by Mark and Patricia McCloskey to expunge their criminal records for a June 2020 incident, pictured here, in which they pointed guns at protesters who had entered their private street in the Central West End.

McCloskey and his wife Patricia had been forced to surrender the rifle and a second firearm after pleading guilty to misdemeanors for pointing the guns at George Floyd protesters in 2020.

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.

Copyright 2025 St. Louis Public Radio

Rachel Lippmann covers courts, public safety and city politics for St. Louis Public Radio.
Congress just eliminated federal funding for KCUR, but public radio is for the people.

Your support has always made KCUR's work possible — from reporting that keeps officials accountable, to storytelling to connects our community. Help ensure the future of local journalism.