Why did Mel Gibson lose gun rights? DOJ official claims she was fired after refusing to restore actor's gun rights

Department of Justice's former US pardon attorney, Elizabeth G. Oyer, claimed that refusing to restore actor Mel Gibson's gun rights led to her termination. In a New York Times story published on Monday, March 10, 2025, Oyer alleged that she had recently been fired from her job, with no explicit reason for the firing.

However, she claimed in the article that she had an idea of what could have played a role in the firing. Oyer said that she recently refused to fulfill a request to add Gibson's name to the list of people to have their gun rights restored, a request she claimed came from officials in Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's office. Mel Gibson and the attorney's department are yet to comment on the allegations.

Mel Gibson lost his right to carry a gun in 2011 after a domestic violence misdemeanor conviction following a dispute with ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva. While he pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor battery charge— which means he did not admit nor dispute it— the case still resulted in a conviction. And per federal law, individuals convicted of domestic violence are not allowed to carry a firearm.

---

DOJ official shares reason for refusing to reinstate Mel Gibson's gun rights

In the Times interview, former DOJ official Elizabeth G. Oyer shared why she refused to add Mel Gibson's name to the list of people with convictions to have their gun rights restored, despite a request from the Deputy Attorney General's office.

"Giving guns back to domestic abusers is a serious matter that, in my view, is not something that I could recommend lightly, because there are real consequences that flow from people who have a history of domestic violence being in possession of firearms," she said.

She also detailed what happened before and after she refused to carry out the request. Oyer said that she was initially part of the group working towards restoring the gun rights for people with convictions two weeks ago. There were allegedly 95 people on the list, which was later narrowed down to nine. By Thursday, she had reportedly received and followed the directive to submit the memo to restore the gun rights for those nine persons.

At the time, she told the Times that she received a request from Blanche's office to add Mel Gibson's name to the list. Along with the request, she claimed, was a letter from Gibson's attorneys addressed to two senior Justice Department officials, dated January, arguing why the actor's right to carry a gun should be restored. His lawyers reportedly claimed that President Donald Trump had made the actor a "special ambassador" to Hollywood, further citing his successful career.

However, Oyer told the Times that she found the request concerning, given Mel Gibson's domestic violence conviction. Hence, she refused to add his name to the list.

She further claimed that she had sent a memo to her Justice Department bosses that she could not recommend the actor as requested. However, hours later, a male superior allegedly called her to ask if she was "flexible" on the matter, and she said that she wasn't.

The same male superior then told her that Mel Gibson has a "personal relationship with President Trump," and that she should take that as a "sufficient basis" to recommend the actor's gun rights be restored. But on Friday, Oyer claimed that she was informed that she was fired.

---

President Trump named Mel Gibson a special ambassador to Hollywood via Truth Social in January, alongside fellow conservator Hollywood stars Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight.