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(Image Source: Frank Curry for The New York Times)
BY SHANLEY REYNOLDS ANCHOR CHRISTIAN BRYANT
President Obama is slated to talk about gun control during his State of the Union Address
Tuesday night. And while many Democrats are bringing victims of gun violence...
...Texas Republican Representative Steve Stockman will be bringing Ted Nugent as his plus-one,
which the Daily Beast says...
“In the eyes of gun-rights advocates, Rep. Steve Stockman will have one of the hottest
dates at Tuesday night's State of the Union address.”
Ted Nugent is an NRA board member and an avid hunter and gun collector. He is known for
incendiary rants directed at lawmakers who have tried to introduce gun control legislation...
“Ted Kennedy, and Nancy Pelosi, and Hillary Clinton- you are evil people. You are on the
side of evil because you’re guaranteeing the good guys will die at the hands of evil
because you won’t let us carry guns.”
He was even interviewed by the Secret Service after he made threats against the President
during an NRA convention in April of last year.
“I’ll tell you this right now, if Barack Obama becomes the President in November, again,
I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”
The Secret Service said the issue had been resolved and required no further action. The
director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns told Talking Points Memo inviting the gun enthusiast
will not help the NRA’s case.
“If there’s better evidence that the NRA’s Washington lobbyists have lost their way,
I can’t think of it. They keep finding new ways to alienate their own members, which
is a strange way to run a membership organization.”
MSNBC’s Martin Bashir agrees with Talking Points Memo, saying...
“Now, I guess that's some improvement on Mr. Stockman carrying 30 milligrams of ***
in his underpants, but isn't Mr. Nugent likely to explode with rage at the mere mention of
gun safety?”
Despite his past comments, Nugent told The New York Times he would be respectful of the
president and would not be going to represent any cause.
“To illustrate his point, he noted that he would not be carrying any weapons as he
usually does. ‘I will go in at least 20 pounds lighter than I normally walk. I will
be going in sans the hardware store on my belt. I live a well-armed life, and I’ve
got to demilitarize before I go.’”