The gun-wielding McCloskeys had their records expunged. Now they want their guns back

The St. Louis couple who went viral in 2020 for brandishing their guns at Black Lives Matter protesters marching outside their home got a clean slate from a Missouri judge who expunged the offenses from their records this week. Now they want their precious weapons back.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the lawyers who outraged the left and charmed the right with their gun-wielding counter-protest in 2020, officially had their records expunged Wednesday, against the wishes of city prosecutors and police. Judge Joseph P. Whyte, granting the McCloskeys' January request, said the expungement was intended to give a second chance to people who have rehabilitated themselves. St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported, and that prosecutors failed to demonstrate how the McCloskeys posed a public threat after June 28, 2020, the day they targeted BLM protesters.

Immediately after the order was passed, Mark McCloskey asked the city to return his guns, which had been seized after he pleaded guilty to the crime.

“It’s time for the city to lay down my guns,” he said in an interview with Post-shipment. McCloskey allegedly threatened to take further legal action if he did not get the guns back.

On that day in June 2020, McCloskey emerged from his home with an AR-15-style rifle to confront racial justice protesters marching past his house on their way to a protest at the mayor's house nearby. His wife Patricia brandished a semi-automatic pistol. They said they felt threatened by passing protesters and accused them of trespassing on a private street.

After the ordeal, the McCloskeys surrendered their weapons as part of their plea deal to misdemeanor assault charges. This is not the first time they have tried to take back their weapons; McCloskey unsuccessfully sued in 2021 for their return.