Meet The Press / Dick Gregory / NBC said pretty much the same thing about how it was ok for them to buy and possess newly-illegal 30-round magazines, because they were “for this educational purpose” or somesuch.
Recall that this was good enough for the Washington DC PD, who eventually just shrugged their shoulders.
“Educational”, eh? That reminds me of the story about Robert Redford, who was once asked to explain why, if he’s such an environmentalist, he tools around his ranch in a Ford Explorer. Redford said in his case it was okay to own a gas-guzzling 4WD SUV, because he used it for “exploring”.