McCloskeys Reclaim AR-15 After Epic Legal Battle

It took 1,847 days, three lawsuits, and two trips to the Court of Appeals—but the McCloskeys finally got their AR-15 back. And in doing so, they reminded the rest of America what it means to stand your ground—not just in your front yard, but in the face of a weaponized justice system that punishes law-abiding citizens for daring to defend themselves.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey—remember them? The St. Louis couple who were thrust into the national spotlight in June 2020 after they stood armed outside their home while a mob of Black Lives Matter protesters trespassed on their private property. The incident, caught on video, became a media firestorm. But the real story was never about “intimidation” or “racism” as the press tried to spin it. It was about the fundamental right of every American to protect their home, their family, and their property.

Let’s be clear: the McCloskeys were on their own lawn. The protesters had broken through a private gate and ignored prominent “No Trespassing” signs. The couple didn’t fire a single shot. They didn’t chase anyone down. They simply stood there—armed, alert, and unafraid. And for that, the left wanted to destroy them.

St. Louis’s then-prosecutor, radical leftist Kim Gardner, charged them with unlawful use of a weapon. That’s right: not the trespassers—not the mob—but the homeowners trying to protect themselves. Gardner, who was later removed from a different case for misconduct, saw the McCloskeys not as citizens defending their rights, but as political scapegoats she could offer up to the woke mob.

In 2021, under pressure and facing a biased legal system, the McCloskeys accepted a misdemeanor plea deal. But justice didn’t stop there. Missouri Governor Mike Parson did the right thing—he pardoned them. And now, in 2025, after a recent Missouri Court of Appeals ruling, their record has been wiped clean. Their AR-15 is back in their hands, and soon, Patricia will have her pistol returned as well.

“It only took 3 lawsuits, 2 trips to the Court of Appeals and 1,847 days, but I got my AR15 back!” Mark McCloskey wrote on social media. That’s what perseverance looks like. That’s what refusing to back down looks like. And that’s a message every freedom-loving American needs to hear loud and clear.

Because here’s the truth: the McCloskeys’ story isn’t just about one family in Missouri. It’s about all of us. It’s about every American who believes in the Second Amendment, in private property, and in the right to self-defense. The lesson is simple: if you stand up, if you fight back, you can win. But you have to be willing to play the long game. You have to be willing to dig in and say, “No more.”

Mark McCloskey summed it up perfectly: “You have to let them know that you will never back down, you’ll never give up.” That’s the spirit that built this country. And it’s the spirit we must revive if we want to preserve it.

The left’s playbook is always the same: criminalize self-defense, elevate criminals, and punish law-abiding Americans. But now that the Biden administration is out of power and President Trump is back in office, we have a chance to restore sanity. We have a chance to reverse the corrosive policies that enabled prosecutors like Kim Gardner to target political enemies instead of real criminals.

We should thank the McCloskeys not just for standing their ground that night in 2020, but for enduring five years of legal hell to prove their point: that freedom is worth fighting for, even when the odds are stacked against you.

In an era when too many Americans are bullied into silence or submission, the McCloskeys chose to fight. And now they stand victorious—not just as private citizens, but as symbols of what it means to be American. Let their victory remind us all: never give the left an inch. When it comes to your rights, your home, and your family—stand firm, stand proud, and never back down.