The actor Mel Gibson’s years-old misdemeanor conviction on domestic violence charges made headlines again this week, after a Trump administration official said she was fired for refusing to recommend that his gun rights be restored.
The episode brought up an unusual aspect of American law: Most people convicted on minor charges can keep their guns. But domestic violence charges are different.
Mr. Gibson lost his right to own guns after his conviction in 2011. Federal law prohibits all those with felony convictions, and those with certain domestic violence misdemeanors, from possessing guns.
Experts say there are clear reasons that the law singles out domestic violence offenses for special treatment. One study found that when abusers had access to guns, their victims were at least five times as likely to die. And abuse also tends to be cyclical, with higher recidivism rates for domestic violence offenders.
What does federal gun law say about domestic violence?
Federal law lists nine categories of people who are prohibited from owning guns. Two are related to domestic violence.
The first came in 1984, when Congress added a provision barring people subject to a qualifying domestic violence protection order from possessing guns for as long as the order was in effect. A qualifying order is one in which the judge finds that the subject poses a credible threat to the complainant. The order has to specifically bar the subject from “harassing, stalking or threatening,” or using physical force.
(The subject of the restraining order must be given an opportunity to be heard by the court before the guns are removed.)
A second restriction came in 1996, as public awareness of domestic violence grew. Congress passed a law barring people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from owning guns if the law broken involved the use or attempted use of physical force or the threatened use of a deadly weapon.
“Beat your wife, lose your gun; abuse your child, lose your gun,” Senator Frank Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey, said in a speech objecting to Republican attempts to hold up the measure. “It is pretty simple.”
For years, what was known as the Lautenberg Amendment applied only to a current or former spouse or live-in partner, or if the abuser shared a child with the victim. It did not apply to other dating relationships. As part of the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Congress narrowed the so-called boyfriend loophole, extending the gun ownership restriction to unmarried dating partners.
Why are there special provisions for domestic violence?
Nationally, a third of all homicide victims are female, and roughly half of those are killed by their current or former partner. In a vast majority of cases, the murder weapon is a gun. Experts say that women are in the greatest danger immediately after they take action, often by filing for an order of protection or seeking to leave the relationship.
Research has also found that domestic violence charges are highly likely to be downgraded from felonies to misdemeanors in plea agreements.
The Supreme Court has lately been more supportive of gun rights, but broke with recent tradition last year when it upheld a federal law barring those with domestic abuse restraining orders from possessing guns. In that case, United States v. Rahimi, major gun-rights groups including the National Rifle Association, the Firearms Policy Coalition and Gun Owners of America sided with the abuser, saying that Congress did not have the power to deny gun rights to someone not convicted of a crime.
In an 8-to-1 decision, the court disagreed. “When a restraining order contains a finding that an individual poses a credible threat to the physical safety of an intimate partner, that individual may — consistent with the Second Amendment — be banned from possessing firearms while the order is in effect,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote.
What happened in the Mel Gibson case?
On Monday, a Justice Department official said she had been fired after refusing to recommend that Mr. Gibson have his gun rights restored. The official, Elizabeth G. Oyer, had been the pardon attorney, reviewing requests for clemency, until she was dismissed last Friday.
Ms. Oyer said in recent weeks that she had been put on a working group to restore gun rights to people convicted of crimes. The effort has been championed by some on the right who maintain that not all people with criminal convictions are dangerous or deserving of such a ban.
In 2011, Mr. Gibson pleaded no contest in Los Angeles Superior Court to a misdemeanor charge of battering his former girlfriend as part of a deal with prosecutors that allowed him to avoid jail time. He received a sentence of community service, counseling and three years of probation, and was ordered to pay $570 in fines.
Ms. Oyer said she had provided a list of candidates for gun rights restoration who had undergone a thorough background investigation to assess their likelihood of future violence; Mr. Gibson had not.
The post Mel Gibson’s Gun Was Taken Away Over a Misdemeanor. Here’s Why. appeared first on New York Times.
