NBC's David Gregory will not be prosecuted for breaking the D.C. large capacity magazine ban

by Chad D. Baus

Politico is reporting that NBC's David Gregory, who in inadvertently displayed the fallacy of gun bans for anyone who was watching when he violated the District of Columbia's ban on large capacity magazines, will not face charges.

From the article:

D.C. attorney general Irvin Nathan on Friday said he would decline to prosecute in the case involving the Sunday show host and any NBC staffers. In a letter to NBC's attorney Lee Levine, Nathan wrote that after reviewing the matter, his office "has determined to exercise its prosecutorial discretion to decline to bring criminal charges against Mr. Gregory, who has no criminal record, or any other NBC employee based on the events associated" with the broadcast.

The office made its decision "despite the clarity of the violation of this important law, because under all of the circumstances here a prosecution would not promote public safety in the District of Columbia nor serve the best interests of the people of the District to whom this office owes its trust."

Nathan noted that his office's decision in this case was also influenced by "our recognition that the intent of the temporary possession and short display of the magazine was to promote the First Amendment purpose of informing an ongoing public debate about firearms policy in the United States."

Nathan said NBC should understand that his office's move not to press charges was "a very close decision and not one to which it came lightly or easily."

I'm sure that will come as little comfort for all those who are prosecuted under this impotent law in the future.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Vice Chairman.