Well CRAP. Just as I Thought.

CNN obfuscated. The transcript (and I assume the original CNN piece) was kind of vague, giving the strong implication that CNN reporter Drew Griffin was the purchaser of the rifle, and is a non-resident of Texas. According to this post at The Firing Line forums, CNN is apparently off the hook:

I just saw a replay of the article on CNN. When the seller and buyer walked out of the house with the gun, it was not the reporter that bought the gun. The reporter wasn't in the picture. The reporter handled a rifle case on an airport luggage conveyer, but apparently didn't actually go anywhere with the 50 cal. The reporter at the end of the story made it clear that the gun was bought in Texas by a resident of Texas (which was not the reporter).

So, nothing illegal was done, but the story as presented was a lie, implying that the reporter flew home with the rifle. In fact, the rifle stayed in Texas, and the purchaser was not the reporter. From the Michael Moore school of journalism.

That's what it sounds like. Read the transcript excerpt.

CNN lie? I'm shocked. SHOCKED, I tell you.

I don't even expect a retraction, now. We can call off the hounds.

UPDATE 2/24: Matt at Stop the Bleating has done some research and concluded (rightly, IMHO) that there won't be any prosecution because the violation was not "willing," and gives legal precedent to back his conclusion up.

Under 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(1)(D), it appears that a violation of 922(a)(3) is not punishable unless it is "willful." In Bryan v. United States, the Supreme Court construed the term "willful" in section 924(a)(1)(D) to require that the defendant knew his conduct was unlawful at the time of the prohibited act, although not that he knew what specific law he was breaking.

There have been a number of BATF prosecutions that, it would appear to me, have been of people who were not "willfully" breaking the law, but they were probably not breaking 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(1)(D).

Matt apparently agrees with me, though, that reporter Drew Griffin is a "a deceitful sack of s***", but he gets to walk, either way.

In a related post, Denise of The Ten Ring has a post on the difficulties of navigating the minefield that is federal, state, county, and municipal firearms law. Give it a look.