Last month, D.C. attorney general Irvin Nathan announced that he would not be prosecuting David Gregory for displaying an empty ammunition magazine on his national TV show Meet the Press—even though NBC knew ahead of time that this action would violate D.C. law. 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. “Prosecution would not promote public safety in the District of Columbia, nor serve the best interests of the people,” Nathan wrote.

In the Washington Post story about this episode, I was quoted as calling Nathan’s decision “a wise use of prosecutorial discretion” but that the episode “illustrates the absurdity of some of these gun laws.”  My position apparently paralleled that of the NRA—even though Gregory had waved the illegal magazine in front of the group’s executive VP, Wayne LaPierre—but “thousands of gun advocates” signed a White House petition calling for Gregory’s arrest because he ought to be treated the same as anyone else.

Indeed, a friend soon pointed out to me that D.C. authorities were not treating people equally: Last summer, Army Specialist Adam Meckler, a veteran of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, was arrested and jailed for having a few long-forgotten rounds of ordinary ammunition—but no gun—in his backpack in Washington. Meckler violated the same section of D.C. law as Gregory did, and both offenses carry the same maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine and a year in jail.  [H/t: Jason Epstein]

Well, that’s disgusting, and D.C. authorities ought to be ashamed of themselves. But the correct response isn’t to waste taxpayer dollars on prosecuting David Gregory, but rather to not prosecute the Adam Mecklers of the world. 

Now, I’ve never been a prosecutor or even practiced criminal law, so it could well be that it’s outside the ethical bounds of discretion not to charge someone who so brazenly flaunts the law as Gregory and the NBC producers did. But if incidents like these doesn’t make people realize that it’s lunacy to criminalize, as a strict liability offense, no less (meaning that your knowledge or mental state is irrelevant), the mere possession of magazines, bullets, and other gun-related accoutrements (without even getting to an “assault weapon” ban, etc.), then nothing will. A magazine is a metal box with springs, of which there are hundreds of millions in the country.  A bullet is a piece of metal that, in the absence of a gun, is less deadly than a rubber band. It’s people who insist on demonizing such objects that lend creedence to those on the other side who believe that any gun regulation is a step toward confiscation and tyranny.

Let me be even clearer: Criminalizing the possession of a magazine or bullet is as extreme as legalizing the private ownership of nuclear missiles. The idea that celebrities should be treated no differently than anyone else is an important one to draw from the David Gregory incident.  But it’s even more important, at least in the context of our ongoing discussion over gun policy, to understand that putting stupid laws on the books doesn’t make us any safer and indeed draws resources away from actions (like investigating, prosecuting, and preventing violent crime) that do.

Legislation rushed through passage is invariably bad law. And the gun bill that emerged overnight from the New York State Legislature, on its first day back, will surely be no exception. Written in private by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders and completed late yesterday, “rank-and-file Senators had only a few minutes to read the legislation before voting on it,” the New York Times reports. “If there is an issue that fits the definition of necessity,” Cuomo intoned, “I believe it’s gun violence.” Really! So pressing are events that the normal three-day waiting period, so legislators could study the bill, had to be waived?

So what do we have? A bill that bans, as “assault weapons,” semiautomatic pistols and rifles with detachable magazines and “one military-style feature,” and semiautomatic shotguns with such a feature. And what is a “military-style feature”? We’ve seen this play before. New Yorkers who already have such guns can keep them, but they’ll have to be registered. Expect litigation on all of those points. Once again, it’s the law-abiding people this bill will affect, not those we have to worry about.

But if the gun part of the bill is problematic, the mental health part is even more so. Mental health professionals would be required “to report to local mental health officials when they believe that patients are likely to harm themselves or others,” the Times tells us, the failure of which would not be sanctioned if they acted “in good faith.” Here again, as with the guns, we imagine that all we need is more law to address what is doubtless the most difficult part of the problem. The implications for confidentiality and, more important still, for encouraging people to seek help, are deeply troubling.

Yet the most important measure that could be taken immediately—one that has proven to reduce deaths from random mass shootings—seems to be missing altogether from this bill, despite the fact that two-thirds of Americans support it. It is to have armed security officials at schools and other currently “gun-free zones.” This act is likely to have little effect on the real problem, however much it makes those who promoted and passed it feel good. 

Homeowner shoots criminal in self-defense—so the criminal turns around and sues the shooter?

From Marinij.com:

A 90-year-old Greenbrae man who was shot in the head during an alleged burglary has been sued by the alleged burglar.

Samuel Cutrufelli, who was also shot during the incident, claims Jay Leone “negligently shot” him during the confrontation inside Leone’s home.

For more information on citizens using guns in self-defense, go to the Cato map.  And check out my podcast interview with firearms expert Massad Ayoob.