XPost: alt.politics.usa.constitution.gun-rights, stl.general, ta   
   k.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics, alt.politics.republicans   
   From: leroysoetoro@americans-first.com   
      
   https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2025/07/02/five-years-later-the-   
   mccloskeys-still-havent-gotten-their-guns-back-n1229146   
      
   I know the wheels of justice grind slowly, but this is ridiculous.   
      
   It's been almost five years since Mark and Patricia McCloskey had their   
   lawfully-owned guns taken from them and were charged by St. Louis   
   prosecutor Kimberly Garner with unlawful use of a weapon for displaying   
   firearms outside their home as a large swarm of protestors marched through   
   their neighborhood just a few weeks after the city's deadly riots in early   
   June, 2020.   
      
   It's been more than four years since the couple pleaded guilty to   
   misdemeanor offenses, and almost four years since the pair were pardoned   
   by then-Missouri governor Mike Parson.   
      
   Shortly thereafter, Mark McCloskey sued to get their guns back, but was   
   rebuffed by a circuit court judge and the Missouri Court of Appeals, which   
   upheld the lower court ruling in December, 2023.   
      
   "Missouri law is unequivocal that a gubernatorial pardon obliterates the   
   fact of the conviction, not the fact of guilt," the appeals court said.   
      
   "The guilty plea ... triggered the guns' forfeiture," the court said.   
   "Since McCloskey's guilt remains, it follows that he is not entitled to   
   the return of the weapons."   
      
   Keep in mind that Mark and Patricia McCloskey can both go into a gun store   
   and legally purchase a firearm, which makes the judges' decision that he's   
   not entitled to get his guns back even more ridiculous.   
      
   Mark McCloskey sued St. Louis in January, 2022 over the decision not to   
   return his guns, but they also sought to expunge their criminal records,   
   which would formally remove their guilty plea from the public record and   
   should allow them to get their guns back. Last June a St. Louis County   
   judge granted that request over the objections of city officials and the   
   local prosecutor, who claimed they're a "continued threat to public   
   safety" who have "shown no remorse for the impact of their actions."   
      
   Amazingly, even after that decision the St. Louis Police Department wasn't   
   ready to give up. The department appealed the decision to the Eastern   
   District Missouri Court of Appeals, once again arguing that the McCloskeys   
   are a threat to public safety. On Tuesday the court released its decision   
   denying the department's request and upholding the expungement.   
      
   A three-judge panel found the circuit court judge did not err in   
   determining the couple met the criteria for expungement after they gained   
   notoriety for displaying their weapons outside of their Central West End   
   mansion as protesters moved through the neighborhood.   
      
   Chief Judge John Torbitzky, who authored the seven-page decision,   
   dismissed the police department’s claims that the two were a threat to   
   public safety.   
      
   “The circuit court provided an adequate opportunity for the department to   
   make an offer of proof, but the department failed to make use of that   
   opportunity,” Torbitzky wrote.   
      
   McCloskey's lawsuit against the city has been on hold for awhile, and the   
   next hearing isn't scheduled to take place until December of this year. If   
   the St. Louis PD decides to appeal yesterday's decision to the Missouri   
   Supreme Court it could drag out the return of McCloskey's guns well into   
   2026, if not beyond.   
      
   St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabriel E. Gore claims to "believe in fairness"   
   and the opportunity for non-violent offenders to "get their lives back on   
   track." If he truly believes that, he should buck the Democrat machine in   
   St. Louis and side with the McCloskeys in their legal fight to have their   
   guns returned.   
      
   That will never happen, but the McCloskeys are almost certain to   
   (eventually) win their fight to have their records expunged and their   
   firearms returned. Five years is far too long, though, and justice delayed   
   is justice denied.   
      
      
   --   
   November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump.  We look   
   forward to America being great again.   
      
   We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that   
   stupid people won't be offended.   
      
   Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.   
      
   Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama   
   / Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.   
      
   Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the   
   The World According To Garp.  Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood   
   queer liberal democrat donors.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)