A St. Louis City court held another hearing last week on the process of returning attorney Mark McCloskey’s assault rifle and semi-automatic pistol.
McCloskey and his wife, Patricia, gained national attention two years ago in the wake of the 2020 George Floyd protests for brandishing the guns in front of their St. Louis home while demonstrators marched towards former Mayor Lyda Krewson’s home nearby.
After being arrested and charged, the McCloskeys both pleaded guilty last year to misdemeanors and forfeited the two guns as part of a plea agreement but now that Gov. Mike Parson has pardoned the couple, they want their guns returned.
McCloskey sued St. Louis, the city sheriff, and the state in order to regain possession of the guns and, in January, Circuit Judge Joan Moriarty held a hearing on his motion for the immediate return of the property where St. Louis City counselor Robert Dierker argued that Parson’s pardon doesn’t apply to the plea agreement’s gun forfeiture.
“The judge ruled two months ago by not ruling that since she had granted my request to keep the guns from being destroyed, there is no emergency anymore and there is no need for an immediate return of the property and so we can now wait until there's a trial on the merits,” McCloskey told the St. Louis Record.
The respondents filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings, and a hearing was held on May. 4.
“They don’t want to wait until trial,” McCloskey said. “My response is that I'm entitled to a judgment on the pleadings, not the respondents. If not, then we should have a jury trial. We’ll see what happens.”
McCloskey, who has been campaigning for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Roy Blunt, is competing against fellow Republican contenders, including former Gov. Eric Greitens, Attorney General Eric Schmitt, and Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler.
“I did two radio programs this morning and we’re going to be in Columbia tomorrow, and then we're in Buchanan County and St. Joseph on Saturday night,” he added. “So, we're just doing as many events as we can possibly do.”
The Republican primary is on Aug. 2.