Question of the week: Should “Meet the Press” moderator David Gregory be arrested for showing a magazine from an assault rifle on the show?
Marty Richman: “Of course not, the idea of arresting him is silly. There is too much talk about hardware and too little about the reasons people are committing murder and suicide.”
Nants Foley: “I don’t think he should be arrested, but I can’t imagine what he was thinking.”
Richard Place: “If the Attorney General is not arrested for sending the complete weapon to Mexico why should you arrest a TV announcer for just showing part of the same gun? Our government used the same weapon to kill 33 children at Waco.”
Ruth Erickson: “David Gregory was just illustrating an example of what a gun magazine looked like, and for safety, it was empty. A representative from the federal department of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives had mistakenly informed NBC that it was OK to show it, as long as it was empty. Apparently it’s illegal to have a gun magazine or assault rifle in Washintgon, D.C. If the show had been televised outside of D.C. or on a program such as ‘Sons of Guns,’ there’d be no problems. Assault rifles are often shown on news programs after being used in crimes. Gregory should not be arrested for being incorrectly advised by a federal department.”
Mary Zanger: “Of course not! It’s as if he was sent to jail for driving 58 mph in a 55 zone. Once we let go of superficialities we find deeper issues in our gun problem. Besides gun violence, we find domestic violence, gang violence, child violence and racial violence, violence against women, violence against gays, and violence against immigrants. Seems as though we live in a violent society. Our history is a story of wars and violence with an economy based on the manufacture and export of guns and weapons. The other side of the issue of violence is non-violence and peace making. Some colleges and universities offer degrees in peace making and non-violent solutions for conflict resolutions. We have a Department of War. We need a Department of Peace. Let’s correct our domination and control. Let’s make non-violent and peace studies a priority in all of our schools so that non-violence finds a way into our society.”
