Elizabeth Oyer, a former public defender who was appointed as the Justice Department's pardon attorney in April 2022, says she was fired last Friday

There could be no better poster boy than Mel Gibson for the wisdom of "red flag" laws, which allow the state to remove guns from people in a mental health crisis or who are an active threat to the community.

Justice Department lawyer Elizabeth Oyer tells the New York Times she was fired for failing to recommend that Mel Gibson have his gun rights restored.

Elizabeth Oyer told the New York Times that Gibson's case came up as part of a wider effort to restore gun rights to people who had been convicted of crimes. Felons are barred from purchasing or owning handguns under federal law.

Former U.S. pardon attorney Elizabeth G. Oyer was fired on Friday after opposing the restoration Hollywood A-lister Mel Gibson’s rights to carry a gun, her spokesperson and two Justice Department officials told NBC News. An Oyer spokesperson said that Oyer was not told why she was terminated.

Gibson, a supporter of Trump, lost his right to purchase or own a handgun after a 2011 domestic violence misdemeanor conviction.