On Thursday, The Reload’s Stephen Gutowski reported that “NBC News may have violated state and federal gun laws while attempting to demonstrate how loose they are during a recent report.” He highlighted how “a collection of gun-rights groups are calling for an investigation into a March 17th report from the network,” with the groups arguing that “an NBC reporter’s decision to purchase a ‘ghost gun’ kit outside his home state and then give it to others to build into a finished firearm may have violated state and federal law.”
After Gutowski reached out to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives about the investigation request, the ATF “told The Reload it takes all tips provided to the agency seriously. However, it did not say if a formal investigation had been launched.” He pointed out that this was far from the first example of irresponsible – and even possibly unlawful – media reporting on guns:
The questionable report is only the latest in a long line of incidents where reporters have broken the very gun laws they set out to show are too weak. Journalists from NBC, CBS, and a Katie Couric documentary have faced scrutiny for potentially breaking state and federal gun laws during their reporting over the past decade. The mistakes have added to mistrust of major media sources among gun owners.
Read the full article at The Reload.
