Mark McCloskey became famous because he and his wife stood outside of their homes with firearms when a mob infiltrated their gated community. This was in 2020, a time when we’d seen entire neighborhoods burned to the ground, all over something that happened in a completely different state in most cases.

While I can’t say if I’d have handled things differently had it been me and my home, the truth is that it doesn’t matter. The McCloskeys were pardoned by the governor.

Yet despite that pardon, they still can’t get their 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.”

The problem is that a judge ruled against the McCloskeys in a civil suit seeking to get the guns returned. The judge argued that the pardon had no bearing on the guns in question.

I’m not sure I agree, but I’m not exactly an attorney.

Regardless, McCloskey still wants his guns back, and I don’t blame him.

See, it’s not about whether he and his wife have the resources to buy new ones. Considering their house, I’d say they have those resources, but it’s also about the principle.

Yes, they entered a plea deal that called for giving up their guns for good–which never should have been on the table, for the record–but the pardon essentially nullified the deal as it was and nullified the charges as well. They should be able to get the guns back.

The fact that they can’t, though, is troubling.

It’s almost as if they believe the guns themselves are somehow cursed and if they’re returned to McCloskey, a terrible evil will be unleashed or something. If that’s the case, then I’d remind everyone involved that it’s been a over week since Halloween and that crap needs to drop.

Give the man his guns back and stop pretending that they’re somehow tainted.

If he can lawfully buy new firearms–and he can–then there’s no reason to maintain a hold on the ones he already owned. No reason at all.

But it seems officials in that neck of the woods think the guns in question are magic and he can’t be trusted with those guns at all because they make him do bad things. I guess they figure new guns won’t be so cursed or something.

Either way, it’s idiotic that McCloskey can’t get the guns back and we all know it.