Washington, D.C., Attorney General Irvin Nathan has declined to charge journalist David Gregory, the host of NBC's “Meet the Press,” for displaying an empty ammunition magazine on national television, saying that doing so would not make Washington safer, the Washington Post reports. Nathan warned the network “of the gravity of the illegal conduct [ ] in a city and a nation that have been plagued by carnage from gun violence.” The incident occurred during a Dec. 23 interview with the National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre.
In a letter to NBC, Nathan admonished Gregory for knowingly flouting the law, but said he decided to exercise “prosecutorial discretion” and not pursue a criminal case. NBC’s Erika Masonhall said NBC “displayed the empty magazine solely for journalistic purposes to help illustrate an important issue for our viewers. We accept the District of Columbia Attorney General's admonishment, respect his decision and will have no further comment on this matter.” Many gun advocates say not charging Gregory “demonstrates the hypocrisy of selectively enforcing some of the nation's strictest gun laws,” the Post says. “Those on the other side of the issue maintain that charging Gregory would be a waste of time and resources better spent on curtailing violence.”