Jesse Ventura's America Transcript
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Ted, welcome to JESSE VENTURA’S AMERICA.
TED NUGENT, ROCK STAR AND GUN RIGHTS ADVOCATE: I feel welcome at JESSE VENTURA’S AMERICA. Happy hunting season to you and yours, Jesse.
VENTURA: Well, first of all, Ted, I’ve got to tell you, your predator hat looks great. Where did you get that?
NUGENT: Well, you know, this is a great sacred time of year for the Nugent family and tens of millions of Americans where we get ready for Thanksgiving with the natural bounty of the harvest. And we’re out harvesting. I need all the camouflage I can get.
VENTURA: When your harvest. Now, Ted, you’ve been a hunter and a fisherman and really have been a hunting advocate for how long now? You actually started hunting before you started playing guitar?
NUGENT: Well, you know, Jesse, I actually was on my dad’s back in 1949 before my first birthday. The Nugent family always celebrated an outdoor higher level of awareness and environmentalism lifestyle before it became trendy. And I’ve never missed a hunting season since 1949. And they’re getting better every year.
VENTURA: OK. Now, Ted, we know you’re an advocate. You’re a member of the NRA, correct?
NUGENT: That’s right. I’m on the board of directors. Very proud of that.
VENTURA: Board of directors of the NRA, which, you know, seems kind of strange coming from rock ‘n’ roll, you know, because most rock guys, you don’t necessarily equate them to gun-carrying hunters.
NUGENT: Have you noticed that? I’ve noticed that myself.
VENTURA: I have, too, yeah. I’ve never noticed Keith Richards with an assault weapon, you know. He has got his skull and crossbone ring, though. That might be worse.
NUGENT: Well, I’m really-I’m proud of being different, Jesse, you know. I like to think that defiance is really a major, major thrust of the American dream. Rosa Parks has always been my biggest hero. I like a person who spits in the face, figuratively speaking, in-of stupid policy, and refuses to accept ignorant and soulless ideas and policy. I’ve always fashioned my rock ‘n’ roll cravings after Rosa Parks. I defy stupid ideas and stupid trends. Everybody tries to put drugs, alcohol, tobacco into my body. I’m going just to have to knock them down.
VENTURA: But Ted, wait a minute. You’re my age. We’re products of the ’60s. We’ve got to be honest. I’ve come clean. I’ve told people in Minnesota as governor, sure I smoked pot. When you were in the ’60s, if you didn’t smoke pot, something was wrong with you.
NUGENT: There was something wrong with me, all right. I was-see, I’m an archer, Jesse. I’m a marksman. I aspire to being the best that I can be with a bow and arrow. I mean, my American dream is having a bow and arrow with my name on it. Renegade Archery is now making the Nuge bow, that’s my dream, having weapons with my name on it.
The discipline that my parents taught me and demanded of me to be a great guitar player and to put my heart and soul into being creative and being a collaborator musically, that’s the same discipline that I learned from the mystical flight of the arrow, marksmanship, handgun marksmanship, rifle, black powder, shotgun. Especially archery. That kind of discipline went right to what is now a gravity-defying career in the year 2003. I had the greatest tour of my life. And that made me different.
And I’m very proud. I was able to defy the punks with their puking and dying nonsense. Puking and dying is not a party. I never touched drugs, alcohol, or tobacco until just a few years ago; I started drinking red wine with Mrs. Nugent in the hot tub. But other than that, I’ve always been clean and sober.
VENTURA: OK, well, let me ask you this then, Ted. We’ve, you know-
I’ve been one that has supported, concealed and carried the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) issue in Minnesota.
NUGENT: Thank you. Thank you.
VENTURA: We went-we went through-I did-it failed. It didn’t get to my desk when I was here, but I would have signed it. We’ve heard all this stuff, how this going to be shooting in the streets. It’s going to be the Wild West when this happens. But lo and behold, it went into effect June 30, I believe, or July 1 of this year. None of that has happened. There’s been nobody getting shot.
NUGENT: Well, first of all...
VENTURA: Nobody-nobody is, you know-it hasn’t turned into the Wild West, because it is the law-abiding citizen that’s doing it. The illegal people already have the guns illegally. Am I right, Ted?
NUGENT: Well, that’s just so obvious, it’s one of these self-evident truth that astonishes me, Jesse. That your clear articulation of what is more than apparent historically, and all the evidence concludes the same thing that you just said.
I know that God gave me the gift of life. With that gift of life comes the moral and spiritual obligation to defend that gift of life. That is all the NRA stands for. We have the right to keep and bear arms, to defend ourselves, our family, and I believe our property, in a world of recidivism, in a world of evil. And that-we’ve got to clarify that the crimes in America-rape, murder, molestation, robbery, carjacking-those aren’t being committed by terrorists, Jesse, those are being committed by fellow Americans because of a failed legal system. It is not a justice system. It is a legal system. I have a right to protect myself. That’s why I keep a gun.
VENTURA: All right. Stay with us for the next segment. We’ll be back, of course, with more of Ted Nugent to talk more guns, we’ll be right back, JESSE VENTURA’S AMERICA. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VENTURA: Welcome back. You’re watching JESSE VENTURA’S AMERICA. And we’re talking guns and hunting with rock ‘n’ roll artist Ted Nugent. Ted, I’ve got to get to one part of hunting now that I hope you’re going to disagree with me on.
NUGENT: Yeah.
VENTURA: Bear hunting. This bear baby hunting.
NUGENT: I love bear hunting.
VENTURA: Do you bear bait?
NUGENT: Jesse, I put a worm on my hook when I’m fishing and I like to sit over a pile of doughnuts when I’m bear hunting. You bet I do.
VENTURA: OK, all right. Then I’m going to-I’m going to disagree with you on this one, because for those who don’t know what bear baiting is, they take a bag of jelly doughnuts, they stick it out there, and little Yogi comes along and thinks he’s found the mother load.
NUGENT: Well, Jesse...
VENTURA: Wait a minute, Ted, wait a minute. So for seven days...
NUGENT: Share with us your last baiting experience.
VENTURA: For seven days, they’ll throw those doughnuts out there. So Yogi comes back, he comes back, and he comes back.
NUGENT: Yogi...
VENTURA: They may sit up in a tree. They take a .44 Magnum and they shoot Yogi in the back of the head.
NUGENT: Yogi...
VENTURA: So they can save his skull. Ted, that isn’t hunting, Ted.
NUGENT: Not even close. Not even close.
VENTURA: That is an ambush. That is an assassination. Hunting is where you have to have ability and where there’s some danger involved. Now, if you wanted to get down on the ground, buck knife with the bear with the buck knife...
NUGENT: I’d like that.
VENTURA: I’ll say go for it. That’s hunting. Go ahead, Ted.
NUGENT: Well, Jesse-well, Jesse, I-you’re pulling that one out of your butt, my friend.
VENTURA: No, I’m not. Because I saw a film of it when my nephew did it.
NUGENT: Well...
VENTURA: And they were all excited, Ted, telling me he shot his first bear. And I watched this. I was disgusted over it.
NUGENT: Well, Jesse, that was an aberration. Let me tell you about my hundreds of bear hunts.
VENTURA: All right.
NUGENT: I have run through the mountains of British Columbia and California and Ontario and Michigan and Wisconsin, chasing hounds. Chasing bears. We get to the bear may be one out of 40 or 50 runs. It’s about the hunt. It’s about the chase. It’s about the challenge. It is about the athleticism. It’s about the...
VENTURA: It’s not about the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from the doughnuts?
NUGENT: No, it isn’t about the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Now I’ve hunted over the-I’ve used the methodology of baiting as well. And I’ve got to tell you, in my own journals, you know, I write through over 50 outdoor publications.
VENTURA: Oh, yes.
NUGENT: “Spirit of the Wild” TV show is the highest rated on the Outdoor Channel. I’m very proud of that. When I hunt with bait, various types of bait, whether beaver carcasses, which is another whole story...
VENTURA: Yeah.
NUGENT: Or-or fish guts or doughnuts on occasion. Mostly we use wildlife remnants. But when I’ve hunted over bait, it is probably about a 7 to 8 percentile success rate. So it’s not as simple as it may have turned out in that one particular video. That was an aberration, my friend. I promise you this. It is not only challenging, it is incredibly disciplinary, it is incredibly demanding, and is about stealth, it is about patience...
VENTURA: I-Ted...
NUGENT: ... about waiting.
VENTURA: Ted...
NUGENT: ... and ultimately...
VENTURA: Ted, Ted, Ted, Ted-I understand that.
NUGENT: ... it is about balancing the population.
VENTURA: Ted, Ted, I understand that. I’m a former Navy seal. I know how to...
NUGENT: I’m a current Navy seal.
VENTURA: Well, I know how to set an ambush. I know how to do one.
NUGENT: Jesse, I can’t...
(CROSSTALK)
VENTURA: ... the ambush, no one gets out alive.
NUGENT: Well...
VENTURA: You know...
NUGENT: All depends...
(CROSSTALK)
VENTURA: The only thing I’d love to see, though, before you shoot the bear, shoot a flare up so that you can get it all light. You know, that way you can for sure see the bear.
NUGENT: When was the last time you shot off a flare before you killed the enemy during an ambush? Come on. You’ve got to ...
VENTURA: We do it quite-we do it quite often.
NUGENT: ... improvise, overcome, adapt. I think bear baiting is one of the proven and efficient methodologies, one of various methodologies available to us.
VENTURA: All right.
NUGENT: But you have to...
VENTURA: A question for Ted Nugent, here. Question for Ted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the NRA is so sure that guns are OK, why does the NRA not allow guns in their own convention?
NUGENT: Well, I don’t know where you got that information. But I’ve been on the board of directors for many years now. I’ve been a member of the NRA for probably 40 of my 50 years. And I’ve been to many of their conventions, and my belt has always been very heavy at those conventions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the last convention in Colorado, it was reported in the national media that guns were not allowed. In the NRA...
NUGENT: Well, you know, I’ve got to tell you, the last time I heard a report about the Colorado convention, it was by a guy who was discovering personal (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Michael Moore, who edited two speeches together and misrepresented a great man, Charlton Heston. So be careful where you get your information.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It wasn’t from Michael Moore. It was widely reported in the national media. So you’re saying the NRA always lets people that have-NRA members have guns in the convention?
VENTURA: Well, OK. Let’s move forward to another one. Here’s one I don’t agree with, the banning of assault weapons.
NUGENT: Well, first of all, what is an assault weapon?
VENTURA: Exactly. What is an assault weapon?
NUGENT: I have high capacity fire arms here. The assault weapon is something that someone uses aggressively against someone. All my guns, including the high capacity, R-15’s, and mini 14’s, which Sarah Brady is trying to ban, those are defensive weapons, and, you know, I check out the bureau-Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and explored ...
VENTURA: You can’t even say it, Ted.
NUGENT: No, I can’t say, I hear it. I hear a terrible echo in my headphones, Jesse, but I checked out all the statistics. And the assault weapons are not a problem. They’re not even assault weapon. There’s no such thing as a Saturday night special. There’s no such thing as a cop killer bullet. This is all made up by the Sarah Brady’s and the media who just love to demonize guns every day.
VENTURA: Well...
NUGENT: Meanwhile, tens of millions of Americans carry guns and they’ve been nothing but an asset to this great nation.
VENTURA: Well, it certainly...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
VENTURA: Well, wait a minute; it’s interesting too. Let’s talk about the assault weapon ban for a moment, if we may. One of the criteria is if the weapon holds a bayonet. Now when is the last time you heard about a drive-by bayoneting? When someone jumped out, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and thrust, you know?
NUGENT: Well, if it was up to you, Jesse, you would drive-by bayonet a black bear.
VENTURA: I wouldn’t do it. Hold on, Ted, we’ll be right back. Stay with us. JESSE VENTURA’S AMERICA.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VENTURA: We’re back. Welcome back, and we are talking about guns, hunting and rock ‘n’ roll. By the way, if you want to see what Ted Nugent’s up to, check out his Web site at tednugent.com.
Ted Nugent says gun control laws are unnecessary. Ted, why are they unnecessary?
NUGENT: Well, historically, the evidence has been proven that the vast majority of citizens are responsible, conscientious, decent, and law abiding. And when you have laws that guarantee their helplessness, you’re literally cultivating and facilitating an opportunity for evil people that have always existed.
I have always believed that what the state of Vermont has proven and all across the nation with increased availability of concealed weapons permits, the statistics are irrefutable, Jesse. You know this as well as anybody else. That good guys stop bad guys every day just by having the knowledge that some people in that community may be armed. So I believe that helplessness is irresponsible, helplessness is not what America is about. And I think good guys should never be unarmed if they choose to stand firm and protect themselves and their families.
VENTURA: Comments to Ted Nugent. Someone...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A weapon of offense is not a shield. It doesn’t protect you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can take a shot at back of the head even if you had two guns in your pocket.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That’s ....
VENTURA: Ted, how do you respond to that? He says, you can get shot in the back of the head even if you got two guns in your pocket.
NUGENT: Well, Jesse, you know as well as I do, that you can’t stop
all tragedies, you can’t stop all assaults. But once again, the statistics
” and in my own life, I like to keep it in perspective of me as a husband and a father. I refuse to be helpless if some repeat offender, some recidivistic maggot ever confronts my family. I never want to have to bend over and give him what he wants. I want to be able to stop him. That’s my responsibility. On an intellectual and on a spiritual level, to be helpless is absolutely unacceptable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You’ve got to look at the fact that almost all crimes are committed by the people we love against us. We’re not talking about murderers and rapists lurking behind bushes waiting to get us. We’re killed by our husbands, our wives, our children. And we’re often killed...
VENTURA: So, what are you saying, it ‘s the gun that causes the deaths?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The gun makes it possible.
VENTURA: And how-why...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me track on here.
VENTURA: Why is the gun being held responsible if it’s the husband that kills you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me track that.
VENTURA: Why is the gun responsible because you and your husband couldn’t get along to the point where a husband would commit death? Believe me, he’d hit you with a hammer then, if that was available.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because hammer (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a gun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hammer...
VENTURA: He’d pick-he’d pick up the meat cleaver and hits you with that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it’s much worse.
VENTURA: If you’re in that much anger that you can sit and say the gun caused me to do this?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jesse, that’s the facts, that’s who is getting killed. It’s your loved ones. It’s not some spooky rapist.
NUGENT: ... stop the drowning by banning water.
VENTURA: Yeah, stop the drownings by banning water. Don’t go near the water, everyone, because you might drown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It’s ridiculous...
VENTURA: You know, don’t go swimming. Something could happen.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... A very silly comparison. Let’s talk about.
VENTURA: Wait a minute.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let’s talk about ...
VENTURA: Wait a minute. Silly? Excuse me. I’ve had guns in my home my entire life and no one has been shot. No one has been hurt. How can you sit and say that’s going to happen? That it’s all around us when it is not the gun, it’s the person. Ted. Comment. Anything? Dead sound.
NUGENT: Ultimately, ultimately the profile of people that are causing these crime are so clear; 99 percent of these violent acts are precipitated by someone who is already out of their cage on parole, early released, plea bargaining. This is the type of issue we should be fighting about, not hardware.
VENTURA: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yeah. I think people are making guns to be-to be the bad guys here. Guns are guns. Before that, it was the knives. Ban the knives, ban the swords. And before that, it was the wrist rocket. David killed Goliath with the wrist rocket. Before that, Kane killed Abel with a rock, what do you do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is just silly...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let’s talk, let’s talk...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ban guns, ban rocks ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let’s talk about what happens to the legal guns.
The legal guns come into this gentleman’s home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The registered?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Registered guns.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Registered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The vast majority of the guns that end up in the hands of crooks and bad guys come from the homes of people like him and her and him.
VENTURA: Because they break in and steal them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They break in and they steal them.
VENTURA: And they steal them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... That was a legitimate gun ...
VENTURA: So that makes my case. They’re the bad guys. It’s not the guns. Anyway, before we get to our break, I want to thank Ted Nugent. Thank you very much, Ted.
NUGENT: Thank you, Jesse.
VENTURA: Good luck on the tour.
NUGENT: Happy hunting season, God bless you, man
