ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The former St. Louis personal injury lawyer who famously held guns outside their home during protests back in 2020 wants his guns back.
Mark McCloskey -- who famously stood outside his home alongside his wife Patricia and pointed firearms at protestors back in 2020-- is asking the Missouri Eastern District Court of Appeals to return the AR-15 and pistol from that famous photo taken outside the their home.
He says the guns have still not been returned to him and his wife Patty even after they were pardoned by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson.
"If the effect of a pardon is somehow different from a plea than a conviction, then how come can you bargain a reduced prison term you still get out of jail?" asked McCloskey. "Oddly enough, there are two cases in the U.S. on that topic. But it's obvious, if you get pardoned, you get out of jail. My guns are still in jail. They need to get released."
McCloskey argued that point in the Missouri Eastern District Court of Appeals judges Tuesday, who could determine if the Governor's pardon erases the previous plea deal McCloskey made to forfeit his guns to get a lesser sentence for "unlawful use of a weapon."
The McCloskey's agreed back in Aug. 2021 to give up the guns they used during the incident and plead guilty to second-degree harassment and fourth-degree assault separately, along with paying a nearly $3,000 fine total. Parson pardoned the McCloskey's the same day they agreed to the plea deal.
The McCloskey's filed a civil suit two days later in St. Louis Circuit Court, but a St. Louis judge ruled in December 2022 that he won't be able to get his guns back, with the judge ruling the pardon had no bearing on the plea agreement.