The Justice Department is refusing to automatically bar domestic abusers from owning guns because Donald Trump wanted to please Mel Gibson, it has been claimed.
Former U.S. Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer asserts she proposed a blanket ban on convicted abusers from regaining access to firearms as officials developed a new restoration program designed for prohibited gun owners.
But in a striking new allegation, Oyer says a senior DOJ official told her they could not shut them out as “it was necessary to grant relief to Mel Gibson” due to “the fact that Mr. Gibson had a personal relationship with President Trump.”
Oyer, who maintains she was fired in May for refusing to return Gibson’s gun, made the claim in her complaint to the department’s inspector general about Associate Deputy Attorney General Paul Perkins, obtained by PunchUp, the Daily Beast’s sister Substack.
The bizarre case has gained fresh relevance after the DOJ opened the first stage of the federal gun-rights restoration program last Friday—without imposing the catch-all exclusion Oyer says she proposed.
The complaint predates Trump officials’ efforts to restore the Lethal Weapon star’s gun rights, as The New Yorker revealed in May, and suggests Gibson was part of the government’s thinking from the outset.
Oyer has previously said she was ordered to add the actor to a shortlist of individuals being considered for gun license restoration, and was told: “We have to grant relief to Mel.” She is now suing the DOJ and Attorney General Todd Blanche over her firing.
But, according to the document, Oyer said there was discussion at the inception of the project in February 2025 about “whether those with domestic violence convictions should be eligible for reinstatement of gun rights.” She proposed excluding them or, at a minimum, consulting DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women about the risks.
However, the complaint says: “Ms. Oyer was advised by Mr. Perkins that domestic violence offenders could not be excluded because it was necessary to grant relief to Mel Gibson.”
Under Blanche’s final rules, from this week, those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence can still apply, but DOJ will generally refuse to restore their gun rights for 10 years unless there are “extraordinary circumstances.”
Tonia Moultry-Pace, Interim President & CEO of the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) said the move would risk the lives of women across America.
She told PunchUp: “Guns and domestic violence are a deadly combination. When a male abuser has access to a firearm, the risk that he will choose to shoot and kill a female partner increases by 1,000 percent.
“Removing guns from convicted domestic violence offenders is a lifesaving protection. Eliminating this protection shows an utter disregard for survivors’ safety and will unnecessarily put thousands of victims in grave danger.”
Gibson, 70, lost his federal firearms rights after pleading no contest in 2011 to misdemeanor spousal battery involving his former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva. Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi restored the actor’s gun rights in 2025.
Trump named Gibson an ambassador to Hollywood alongside Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone in January of the same year.
In the previously reported battle over Gibson’s individual application, Oyer and her staff identified 95 people who had already undergone extensive vetting through the presidential pardon process as potential candidates for firearms restoration.
DOJ leadership whittled the group down to nine. On March 6, 2025, Oyer sent Perkins a memo recommending those candidates. She says Perkins responded by instructing her to “add Mel.”
This was despite Gibson having not undergone the same process. Oyer says Gibson’s attorney cited the actor’s relationship with Trump, 80, and his career making famous movies in asking for his gun rights back.
After Oyer refused to recommend him, she alleges Perkins subsequently called and asked whether her position was “flexible,” telling her Gibson’s personal relationship with Trump should be sufficient reason for the recommendation and conveying that she “would be wise” to make it.
The following morning, Oyer submitted a memo containing information about Gibson but declined to recommend him. Hours later, Blanche fired her.
Blanche has denied Gibson had anything to do with the dismissal. During his July confirmation hearing to become attorney general, he told lawmakers he had “known nothing” about the Gibson matter when he fired Oyer.
PunchUp contacted the DOJ and Oyer for comment. Neither responded.
Tom Latchem exposes the secrets, scandals, and stories that powerful people and institutions want to keep under wraps. Follow all of his reporting at PunchUp on Substack.
