In the latest signal that the White House’s “We the People” petition site has been overrun by the stupids, there is a new petition growing steam that calls on the White House to intervene in an ongoing investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department.
As of this writing, the initiative to file charges against Meet the Press host David Gregory has collected more than 10,000 signatures since its creation yesterday by a resident of Boise, Idaho. Gregory and NBC News’ venerable public affairs show are being investigated by D.C. authorities over a segment last Sunday in which Gregory held up a 30-round magazine during a segment with Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association.
Magazines of that capacity, however, are illegal to possess, purchase or sell within the District’s confines, and with Meet the Press being filmed at NBC4’s studio at 4001 Nebraska Avenue NW, Gregory’s prop usage has elicited a formal investigation.
The petition reads:
David Gregory is not above the law; he is a journalist, and must be held accountable to the same law as every other person.
DC High Capacity Ammunition Magazines – D.C. Official Code 7-2506.01
(b) No person in the District shall possess, sell, or transfer any large capacity ammunition feeding device regardless of whether the device is attached to a firearm. For the purposes of this subsection, the term large capacity ammunition feeding device means a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device that has a capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
We The People demand that he be formally charged for violation of this law on “Meet The Press.”
First of all, it’s nice that the good people of the Potato State are trying to keep up with the local affairs of their nation’s capital. Second, the original petitioner is barking up the wrong executive branch.
Just as NBC learned the hard lesson yesterday that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms could not act as a proxy for the MPD in granting Gregory permission to use the magazine, this White House petition would seem to have little actual effect on the doings of the D.C. government. The White House promises that petitions garnering 25,000 signatures merit an official response, though so far it has yet to weigh in on the dozens of petitions calling for various states’ secessions in the wake of last month’s presidential election.
The drive to lock Gregory up still needs about 15,000 signers, but in the mean time, let’s clear this up. Although the White House could certainly apply political pressure to the D.C. government, it has no direct purview over the Metropolitan Police Department’s investigations. To boot, Gregory held up the magazine as an example of the kind of ammunition used in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Conn., and in the wake of that carnage, President Obama has moved toward making gun control a key issue in his second term.
So, yeah, demanding that the White House clap David Gregory in irons is kind of dumb. Let’s instead focus on the real villains, like CNN blabber Piers Morgan. A petition calling for his deportation back to the United Kingdom has garnered more than 82,000 signatures.
