The gun-toting couple who went viral for pointing guns at Black Lives Matter protesters as they walked through their St. Louis neighborhood in 2020 won’t be getting their infamous weapons back, a judge ruled Wednesday. Mark McCloskey, an attorney and failed U.S. Senate candidate, asked for his Colt AR-15 rifle and his wife’s Bryco .380-caliber pistol back, and his $872.50 fine reimbursed after they were pardoned by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson in August 2021. But Circuit Judge Joan Moriarty argued that McCloskey and his wife pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges, and the pardon had no bearing on the conditions of their plea agreement. “Plaintiff and his wife are required to follow through with their end of the bargain,” she wrote. McCloskey is expected to take the case to appeals court.
