David Gregory May Have Been Cleared to Show Gun Clip on Meet the Press

Miscommunication seems to be at the root of investigation surrounding TV journalist displaying ammunition magazine during a broadcast

By Holly Passalaqua Dec 27, 2012 4:05 PMTags
David Gregory, NRANBC

Whether or not David Gregory was cleared to show a gun clip on air seems to be, well, up in the air.

E! News has learned that an NBC reporter contacted the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Friday to ask if it would be legal to show ammunition and a magazine on last Sunday's Meet the Press.

Sources tell E! News that a member of ATF informed the reporter that the Bureau does not enforce city laws and that local police would know the answer. In an effort to help out the reporter, ATF reached out to the Metropolitan Police Department of D.C. However, it seems that somewhere along the line, something was miscommunicated.

According to our sources, ATF was told that the ammunition was illegal unless law enforcement was physically there, but that the empty magazine would be OK to show.

Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson police officer Araz Alali tells E! News that the incident is currently being investigated by the MPD, which released the following statement:

"NBC contacted the Metropolitan Police Dept. inquiring if they could utilize a high capacity magazine for this segment. NBC was informed that possession of a high capacity magazine is not permissable and the request was denied."

The incident in question occurred while Gregory was interviewing NRA honcho Wayne LaPierre in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., school shooting.

(E! and Meet the Press are part of the NBCUniversal family.)