SD NRA Member: “Nugent has got to go.”
Russ Chastain 08.14.14
A business owner, NRA member, and newspaper columnist in South Dakota is unhappy with Ted Nugent, and it’s easy to see why.
Frank Carroll, co-owner of Professional Forest Management, LCC, which allegedly hosted a 2013 NRA banquet in Crazy Horse, South Dakota,* pulled no punches in an August 12 column condemning not only Nugent’s use of offensive language, but the lack of punitive action by NRA leaders.
Calling Nugent’s views “Neo-Ku Klux Klan” as well as “unacceptable and intolerable,” Carroll noted that like all Americans, Nugent has every right to opine as a citizen, but not when he’s representing the National Rifle Association.
Nugent, an often-offensive sometime rock star, is a member of the NRA governing board, and that’s where Carroll’s true frustration lies. Here’s an excerpt from Carroll’s column:
“It’s not OK to call the president of the United States a ‘subhuman mongrel.’ It’s not OK to compound that outrageous remark by characterizing tribal officials who are canceling his concerts as ‘unclean vermin.’
“What’s really not OK is the failure of NRA leaders to unequivocally and immediately suspend Nugent from further representation of the NRA and our members. Instead our leaders, from Oliver North down the line, have equivocated, dodged, danced and tiptoed around an issue from which there is no escape. Nugent must go, for the sake of the integrity of our organization and our own credibility as members of a powerful and nation-wide lobby engaged in guaranteeing the rights and responsibilities of free Americans.”
The current storm of controversy began in January, when Nugent characterized Barack Obama as “a Chicago, communist-raised, communist-educated, communist-nurtured, subhuman mongrel.”
A subsequent apology fell short of silencing his critics, which, by the way, inhabit both sides of the political aisle.
“The Nuge” has a long history of making inflammatory, offensive comments that serve to turn off people of all stripes to him and whatever person or tenet he touts. And while he sometimes says things with which I agree, he usually manages to throw in just enough vitriol to negate any positive effects he may have had.
Nugent has done some good for gun rights in the past, but for years I have been of the opinion that he does more harm than good when he purports to represent hunters and gun owners. I could easily sum up my opinion of Ted in one word, but it wouldn’t be fit to print on this family-friendly site. So I can easily sympathize with Mr. Carroll on this.
After long and loyal membership, I dropped my NRA membership years ago after I learned of numerous anti-gun initiatives they’d been involved in. After all, NRA makes money from conflict, and in my opinion they are often more concerned with continuing the friction of anti-gun laws than with honestly defending our freedoms. (I am a life member of GOA, which truly fights for our rights without compromise).
I’m not saying that to rile anyone up. I just want to explain that since I’m not an NRA member, I don’t really have a dog in that particular fight.
But as a gun owner, hunter, and proponent of Second Amendment rights, I would dearly love to see Ted Nugent’s notoriety evaporate and for no one to pay attention to his divisive and asinine remarks ever again. I truly believe that would be best for the public image of hunters, gun owners, and liberty in general.
*Clayton Pederson, Sr. NRA Field Rep ND/SD, subsequently contacted Alloutdoor.com and said this: “We held a Friends of NRA event at Crazy Horse for the NRA Foundation which has nothing to do with politics and the… member that is quoted is not part of that cmte and he nor his company had no part in hosting any part of that event.”
