Ted Nugent Will Attend State of the Union Address [VIDEO]
Ted Nugent will attend the president's State of the Union address on Tuesday night.
The Detroit-born rock musician made headlines for his firm defense of Second Amendment rights and fiery insults of President Barack Obama, which, according to The New York Times blog The Caucus, turned him into a hero for most conservatives.
Nugent is a National Rifle Association (NRA) board member. He will be a guest of representative Steve Stockman, a Texas Republican who also made headlines recently for threatening to file articles of impeachment against Obama if the president were to issue executive orders that pushed for gun control laws.
During a phone interview from his Texas ranch on Monday, Nugent said that he planned to sit in the House of Representatives gallery during President Obama's speech. He also stated that he would hold a news conference after the president's speech, which reports suggest could become a spectacle for the tabloids.
Nugent, who's both a hunter and gun collector, insisted that he would be on his best behavior at the address on Tuesday. His disparaging, even threatening remarks about the president have also made headlines.
During his speech at last year's NRA conference, Nugent said he would either be "dead or in jail" if President Obama was reelected. The rocker once had political ambitions of his own when he thought about running for governor of his native Michigan.
"I will be there with a deep, abiding respect for the office of the presidency," Nugent said. "I'm not here to represent any specific cause other than freedom and independence and 'we the people.' "
In order to prove his point, Nugent stated 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," Nugent said. "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."
Rep. Stockman's office released an official statement saying that Nugent "speaks for millions of Americans who understand how the Second Amendment protects freedom and stops crime."
Nugent's presence at the event on Tuesday may intensify emotions around the delicate issue of gun safety. There will be many people in attendance who have been impacted by gun violence, including Representative Jim Langevin of Rhode Island, who was accidentally shot and paralyzed as a teenager.
