Ted Nugent, known as a hero for many conservatives because of his staunch defense of Second Amendment rights and his incendiary Obama insults, will be present at the president's State of the Union address Tuesday night, The New York Times' Caucus blog reported.
Nugent, a National Rifle Association board member, who is attending as a guest of Steve Stockman, a Texas Republican, recently threatened to file articles of impeachment against Obama if he issued executive orders strengthening gun control laws, according to The New York Times. Last year, he even said at an N.R.A. conference that he would rather be "dead or in jail" if Obama was re-elected, The New York Times reported.
Nugent told The New York Times that he would be sitting in the House of Representatives gallery during the speech, and he would hold a press conference afterwards.
But Nugent, an avid hunter and gun collector, assured The New York Times that he would not make a spectacle.
"I will be there with a deep, abiding respect for the office of the presidency," he told the paper."I will be there with a deep, abiding respect for the office of the presidency. I'm not here to represent any specific cause other than freedom and independence and 'we the people.' "
He even added that he won't be carrying any weapons to the State of the Union address. "I will go in at least 20 pounds lighter than I normally walk," he said to The New York Times. "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."
A statement from Stockman's office issued to The New York Times says that Nugent "speaks for millions of Americans who understand how the Second Amendment protects freedom and stops crime."
Yet, his presence on Tuesday is likely to inflame emotions around the country's gun debate, according to The New York Times. This will be an address filled with people affected by gun violence. In fact, led by Rep. Jim Langevin of Rhode Island, who was accidentally shot and paralyzed as a teenager, about 20 members of Congress have given away their gallery seats to family and friends of those who died as a result of gun violence.
Nugent told The New York Times on Monday that he hadn't told anyone at the N.R.A. about his appearance at the address.
A United States Capitol Police spokesman told The New York Times that they would not interfere with Nugent's presence Tuesday night.
"It is at the member of Congress or senator's discretion who receives a ticket from their respective office," Shennell Antrobus, the spokesman, told the paper. "Invited ticketholders with proper photo identification will be allowed into the event."
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