Mel Gibson’s Apparently Getting His Gun Rights Restored. Now, About Everyone Else’s…

Mel Gibson might have had some trouble in the past, and he may well have trouble in the future. However, he’s also a legendary actor and director with acting credits like the Max Max series, the Lethal Weapon franchise, plus stand-alone films like The Patriot, Braveheart, and We Were Soldiers, to say nothing of having directed Braveheart and the amazing Hacksaw Ridge.

But among the legal troubles he had was a charge of domestic violence. His no contest plea stripped him of his gun rights for years, and the possibility of them being restored created a bit of hubbub recently.

Now, though, it turns out those particular rumors may be, at least in part, true.

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.

Of course, this hasn’t quite happened yet, so it might well still be a rumor, but it comes from an additional source, which suggests there may be something here.

And it should be mentioned again that Gibson’s domestic violence charge was a misdemeanor. No one should lose their right to keep and bear arms permanently because of a misdemeanor. If the crime is that egregious, then make it a felony and call it a day.

Plus, it’s been more than 13 years since the plea, which was a no-contest plea, which means he never acknowledged guilt. Even if he was guilty as sin, he’s clearly kept his nose clean since. If we want people who break the law to reform, we can’t keep holding their past sins against them.

So I have no problem with Gibson getting his gun rights back.

What I have a problem with is that there are a lot of people who have a similar history, many of whom have kept their noses clean for far longer, who aren’t getting their gun rights restored. 

They lack Gibson’s connections to the White House, and so they’re still waiting.

Yes, Bondi has taken important steps in restoring people’s gun rights in a more general sense by withdrawing restoration authority from the ATF, putting it back with the DOJ, where they can actually take those steps, but Gibson is still getting preferential treatment. I’m not crazy about that.

But since him getting those rights back at this point will infuriate all the right people, I’ll learn to live with it.