6 days Ago By Greg Evans
Mel Gibson will be allowed to own guns again, despite a prior domestic violence conviction against him, thanks to a new ruling by the US Justice Department . The Mad Max actor had his gun rights revoked in 2011 when he was charged with misdemeanour spousal battery and pleaded no contest in a deal with prosecutors that kept him out of jail. Federal law in the United States bans all those with felony convictions, and most people with domestic violence charges, from possessing firearms.
As part of the 2011 plea deal, Gibson spent three years on probation, underwent a year of domestic violence counselling and performed 16 hours of community service. The New York Times reported on Thursday (3 April), citing an unnamed source familiar with the Justice Department, that Attorney General Pam Bondi approved the decision to restore Gibson’s rights. The source added that the specifics are expected to be published in the Federal Register.
The 69-year-old Oscar winner and prominent Donald Trump supporter was reportedly among nine other people whose rights to own a gun would be restored. It comes after a former Department of Justice attorney suggested the actor was the reason she was fired . Earlier this year, Elizabeth G Oyer said that she was asked to join a working group reviewing cases of individuals with past convictions who could be eligible to restore their gun rights.
After narrowing down the candidates to nine people with old convictions and a low risk of recidivism, Oyer said senior Justice Department officials asked her to add Gibson to the list, despite his 2011 misdemeanour conviction for domestic violence. In a column for Rolling Stone , Oyer wrote: “No one has told me why I was fired. But the notice was delivered hours after I declined to recommend reinstating the gun rights of a famous friend of the president, the actor Mel Gibson, who has a history of violence against women.
” Oyer also told CNN : “When I came into work on Friday morning, I said to a colleague, I really think that Mel Gibson might be my downfall, and within hours of saying that, I was being escorted out of my office” Gibson was named as one of Trump’s special envoys to Hollywood, along with Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone in a bid to make the US film industry “bigger, better and stronger than ever before!” The Independent has contacted Mel Gibson’s representatives for comment..
