Overview

• Mark McCloskey retrieved his AR-15 from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department this week, concluding a 1,847-day struggle to reclaim the rifle seized after the 2020 protest standoff.
• Patricia McCloskey’s pistol remains in the custody of the St. Louis Sheriff’s Department and is expected to be released to her within days, completing the return of both weapons.
• Former Governor Mike Parson pardoned the couple’s misdemeanor convictions in 2021 and a Missouri judge expunged those records in June 2024, removing legal barriers to getting their firearms back.
• The McCloskeys pursued three lawsuits and two appeals in the Missouri Court of Appeals, which upheld the expungement ruling and cleared the way for authorities to hand over their weapons.
• The dispute highlighted partisan battles over stand-your-ground and castle doctrine protections after Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner charged the couple and Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed to dismiss the case.