Last Sunday, NBC’s David Gregory used a 30-round clip on national TV as he berated NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre, violating D.C.’s strict gun laws.
But Daily Beast columnist Howard Kurtz says Gregory should not be prosecuted.
“Was the moderator of Meet the Press caught on tape, armed and dangerous, liberating a few Slurpees from a 7-Eleven? No, he waved a high-capacity ammunition clip on the air while interviewing Wayne LaPierre, asking why it shouldn’t be banned,” he wrote.
The problem, however, is that the clip Gregory used violates D.C. official code 7-2506.01.
“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,” the code reads.
“Was it a stunt? Yep, and an eye-catching one. Was Gregory being aggressive with the NRA chief, or seeming to push gun control in a confrontational interview? All that is up for debate,” Kurtz wrote.
“But a police probe over what I assume was an empty ammo clip is a total waste of time,” he added.
“The late word that NBC requested, and failed to receive, permission from the police certainly complicates the matter. But I don’t think Gregory was planning to commit any crimes,” Kurtz said.
In other words, because Gregory works for NBC as an anti-gun propagandist, his motives are pure and he should not be held to the same standard as everyone else, a point Jonah Goldberg made at The National Review.
“There are a lot of things going on here, and Kurtz seems to be missing all of them,” Goldberg wrote. “Culturally, one of the things lots of Americans detest about the elite journalistic culture is the idea that reporters are above the law. Usually, this self-regard manifests itself in debates over revealing sources. Many journalists honestly believe they have special rights and privileges not enjoyed by all Americans. As a matter of law and logic, that’s not the case (which is why some journalists want to see the licensing of journalists). We all have the right to commit journalism.”
“Well,” he added, “the First Amendment is for everyone, not people with degrees from the Columbia J-School. Likewise, the Second Amendment is for everyone. And what laws limit my constitutional right to bear arms, limit David Gregory’s too.”
Goldberg went on to say that Gregory violated “exactly the sorts of gun laws he’s advocating (and, yes, Gregory is serving as an advocate in one side of a debate while pretending otherwise — which annoys some people too).”
“His defense — and Kurtz’s — is that his intentions were good. Well, yes, I’m sure that’s true. It’s also true of roughly 99.99 percent of legal gun owners. But, unlike those legal gun owners, Gregory knowingly broke the law he expects the rest of us to obey (he asked the cops if it was okay and they said, ‘No.’).”
No doubt, if the roles were reversed, and LaPierre was waving the magazine, the entire Democrat-media complex would demand the NRA chief be cuffed and tossed into the darkest dungeon.
On Wednesday, we reported that NBC used the magazine even though the Metropolitan Police Department said they could not.
A report at TMZ, however, says that the network may have received contradictory responses from the department.
Nevertheless, the question remains: Are members of the Democrat-media complex above the law if their goal is to promote an anti-gun, anti-freedom agenda?
Related:
- Email indicates NBC used illegal magazine on air after being denied permission
- Authorities investigating NBC’s David Gregory for gun law violation
- Gun debate pits liberals, media against Constitution, freedom-loving Americans
- Report: NBC’s David Gregory violated D.C. gun laws on ‘Meet the Press’
- WH petition calling for deportation of CNN’s Piers Morgan reaches 25,000 signature threshold
- New York paper publishes names, addresses of legal gun permit holders
- Piers Morgan: NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre ‘dangerous, dim-witted, deluded menace’
- Yes, Virginia, there is a Democrat-media complex
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