Meet the Press host David Gregory will not face any charges for holding up a 30-round magazine as a prop during an interview he conducted last month, D.C. Attorney General Irv Nathan writes in a letter today.
In an interview on the December 23 episode of Meet the Press, Gregory, interviewing NRA executive Wayne LaPierre, displayed the cartridge as an example of the ammunition used in the December 15 mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. The display, however, was immediately reported to the Metropolitan Police Department as a potential violation of D.C. law, which forbids the possession of ammunition feeding devices capable of holding more than 10 rounds, whether or not the devices themselves are loaded or attached to a gun.
Police investigators turned the case over to Nathan’s office earlier this week. After a few days of review, Nathan decided against pressing charges against Gregory or any other NBC News employee; violating the ammunition law can bring a jail sentence of up to a year and a fine of up to $1,000. Meet the Press is taped at NBC4’s studio at 4001 Nebraska Avenue NW.
In declining to prosecute Gregory and Meet the Press, Nathan acknowledged that the magazine was used as a prop to “promote the First Amendment purpose of informing an ongoing public debate about firearms policy in the United States.” However, Nathan’s letter to NBC’s lawyers dings the network for not exploring “other legal means” that could have also been useful in pressing LaPierre on why certain types of ammunition are legal.
Nathan also writes that following the Meet the Press taping, the magazine was returned to its owner, who resides outside D.C. Gregory is a District resident.
Still, Nathan’s letter suggests that the call could have gone the other way and warns that NBC better not try this stunt again:
NBC should be made aware that OAG’s decision not to press charges in this matter was a very close decision and not one to which it came lightly or easily. Accordingly, NBC and its employees should take meticulous care in the future to ensure that it is in full compliance with D.C. law whether its actions involve firearms or any other potential violation. Repetition by NBC or any employee of any similar or other firearms violation will be prosecuted to the full extent supported by the facts and the law.
So no more gun shows on Meet the Press, lest they decide to broadcast from somewhere more permissive.
To l. Levine Re d. Gregory Incident 1-11-13 by Benjamin Freed
