President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice will restore the right to bear arms for actor Mel Gibson, according to a weekend report.
The actor had his gun rights taken away after a battery charge in 2011, The New York Times reported. The DOJ, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, will also restore the gun rights of nine others who have been convicted of crimes, the report said.
Former Justice Department pardon attorney Elizabeth G. Oyer, who was fired last month, had previously vowed not to recommend Gibson’s rights be restored after his conviction on a minor battery charge against an ex-girlfriend for which he pleaded no contest.
In an interview with The Times after she was fired, she said that she had been pressured to change her mind because Gibson “has a personal relationship with President Trump.”
The DOJ recently published new regulations to restore gun rights to certain people with criminal convictions.
However, the department still wants to deny access to firearms to “violent and dangerous people,” but said that there has to be “an appropriate avenue” to restore rights to those who have earned the chance to bear arms again.
The determination of whose rights get restored depends on many factors, including “a combination of the nature of their past criminal activity and their subsequent and current law-abiding behavior.”
The “Lethal Weapon” and “Braveheart” star was most recently in the news in January when tragedy struck his family.
Gibson revealed that his Malibu home was destroyed by the Los Angeles wildfires while he was in Austin, Texas, recording a podcast with Joe Rogan.
The Oscar-winning actor and director shared the news during a phone interview on NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.” Despite the devastation, however, Gibson stated that he was holding up well in the aftermath.
“Obviously, it’s kind of devastating. It’s emotional,” he said. “You live there for a long time, and you had all your stuff. You remember [comedian] George Carlin talking about your stuff? I had my stuff there, and it’s all like, I’ve been relieved from the burden of my stuff because it’s all in cinders.”
Gibson also noted that he was “ill at ease” during an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast because he was aware of the rapidly expanding wildfire in his neighborhood at the time.
“When I got home, sure enough, [the house] wasn’t there,” he told Vargas. “I went home, and I said to myself, ‘Well, at least I haven’t got any of those pesky plumbing problems anymore.’”
He said he and his girlfriend had evacuated, but she stayed in California while he went to Texas to do the podcast, according to WBAL-TV.
“I have never seen a place so perfectly burned,” Gibson said of his destroyed home. “You could put it in an urn.”
Other celebrities, including Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Billy Crystal, Jeff Bridges, Paris Hilton and Ricki Lake have opened up about losing their homes, the local outlet said.
In a statement to CNN on Wednesday, Crystal said, “Words cannot describe the enormity of the devastation we are witnessing and experiencing. We ache for our friends and neighbors who have also lost their homes and businesses in this tragedy.”
“Janice and I lived in our home since 1979. We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away,” he added.
“We are heartbroken, of course, but with the love of our children and friends, we will get through this. We pray for the safety of the firefighters and first responders. The Pacific Palisades is a resilient community of amazing people, and we know that in time, it will rise again. It is our home.”
