Outspoken rocker Ted Nugent is now catching heat from his own brother on his uncompromising stance on gun rights.
In a Washington Post op-ed published Friday, Jeffrey Nugent, Ted's older brother, wrote that while he agrees with his younger brother's fervent defense of the right to bear arms, he splits with the "Cat Scratch Fever" singer on expanding background checks.
"I agree with Ted that our constitutional right to bear arms should not be undermined," writes Nugent, the former chief executive and president of Revlon. "I want all those who are qualified to purchase a gun to be able to do so. But — and here is where I part ways with my brother — not everyone is qualified to own a gun, so expanded background checks should be a legislative priority."
He continues, "The NRA has it wrong: Irresponsible gun owners are bad for everyone. If you shouldn’t have access to a gun, then there should be no way for you to access a gun! Can anyone argue with that?"
Earlier this year, Nugent spoke out against the background check legislation authored by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), deeming the measure the “the Ban Ted Nugent Act of 2013."
In the Post op-ed, the elder Nugent details attending last month's NRA annual convention in Houston, Texas with his brother, who gave the last speech at the annual meeting.
"Ted is someone who speaks in extremes to make his points," Jeffrey Nugent writes of his brother's often controversial rhetoric. "It reflects who he is, and it works for him and his audience."
Ted Nugent responded to his brother's criticism in a Sunday column on Newsmax's website.
"In this day and age of terminal apathy and soulless discontent, I adore anyone who is an activist and stands up for what he or she believes... My loving brother Jeffery is becoming one of those activists, and I salute the great man," writes Nugent. "His recent opinion on his support for expanded background checks for firearms purchasers is dead wrong, however. Passing expanded background checks would do nothing to curtail or suppress thugs or psychos from accessing weapons and committing mass murder, carjacking, the nightly shootouts in Chicago or a gangsta shooting at the Mother’s Day parade in New Orleans."
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