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The Metropolitan Police Department said Wednesday that it had opened an investigation into whether NBC and David Gregory, the host of "Meet the Press," broke the law when Gregory displayed a high- capacity gun magazine during an interview Sunday with the vice president of the National Rifle Association.

NBC had asked the police for permission to use a high-capacity magazine and "was informed that possession of a high-capacity magazine is not permissible, and their request was denied," said Officer Araz Alali, a police spokesman.

"This matter is currently being investigated," he said. "I can't get into any other specifics of this investigation."

A spokeswoman for NBC declined to comment.

Gregory displayed the magazine, which rapidly feeds ammunition into the chamber of a gun, about 10 minutes into his interview with Wayne LaPierre, the NRA vice president. The host picked it up from the table in front of him and held it in the air as he questioned LaPierre.

"So here is a magazine for ammunition that carries 30 bullets," Gregory said. "Now isn't it possible that, if we got rid of these, if we replaced them and said, 'Well, you could only have a magazine that carries five bullets or 10 bullets,' isn't it just possible that we can reduce the carnage in a situation like Newtown?"

LaPierre said he did not believe it would have made a difference. "There are so many different ways to evade that, even if you had that," he said.

In Washington, people who are caught in possession of the type of magazine Gregory had can face up to a year in prison, said David Benowitz, a criminal defense lawyer.

Benowitz said the accusation from the police that NBC had asked for permission and then went ahead with showing the magazine "didn't help Gregory's case."