Nugent Brothers Disagree On Expanded Background Checks

The Nugent brothers disagree on a pretty major issue in the gun control battle.

There’s nothing quite like a hearty disagreement between brothers, and the Nugent family has just that. While Ted Nugent and ex-Revlon CEO brother Jeffrey are both staunch gun enthusiasts, Second Amendment advocates and NRA members, they differ on one major issue: Background checks.

In an op-ed for The Washington Post, Jeffrey Nugent explains that he is all for expanded background checks, arguing that not everyone “is qualified to own a gun.”

“I believe strongly that expanding and improving mandatory background checks will keep a lot of people who aren’t entitled to Second Amendment rights from having easy access to guns,” Jeffrey Nugent writes.

“Every gun transaction must include a thorough background check. Why would responsible gun owners want to protect people who threaten not only our safety but our gun rights?

“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?”

The Nugent brothers disagree on this issue, and Jeffrey mentions early on that it’s the only place he parts ways with his brother.

Ted, meanwhile, has long been a vocal critic of any form of gun control legislation, and wrote a rebuttal to his brother’s piece in which he says his stance on expanded background checks is “dead wrong.”

Though the piece is titled “My Dear Misinformed Brother,” Ted actually lays out a pretty respectful rebuttal that includes more data appeal than Jeffrey’s, but more or less re-emphasizes what has become a classic pro-gun talking point: That criminals don’t care about the law.

“Paroled thugs or bug-eyed psychotics could not care less about any gun laws. The bold and ugly reality is that they will always gain access to a weapon. I believe at his core, my brother knows this.

“So, knowing that evil will always have access to weapons, the point of universal background checks, denying or restricting Americans the right to own standard semi-auto weapons, high capacity magazines or various inademate hardware are all moot, irrelevant points.

“In fact, the only people who would comply with universal background checks are law-abiding folks who already comply with more than 20,000 federal, state, and local gun laws.”

We know the Nugent brothers disagree on expanded background checks, but which one do you agree with? Like Jeffrey, do you think that not everyone is qualified to own a gun, or do you side with Ted, believing that gun control laws will only hurt law abiding citizens? Sound off!

[Image via: Harmony Gerber / Shutterstock]