GLENN: Ted Nugent, a man that I am proud to say that I hope I can call you a friend. Ted, what a great guy and always a pleasure to have you on the program.
NUGENT: Well, back at you, Glenn. I would like to use the word blood brothers, man. I believe that you are there for people who you care about as the Nugent family is with you.
GLENN: Well, thank you very much. Okay, so you did something, and I don't know if I've really told this story. About a year ago, I think, I was doing a fundraiser for a family that I met and it was just this great family up in Idaho and I met them and the second time I ran into the family, I was so impressed with the family and they have several of their kids -- well, all of them have been affected one way or another with muscular dystrophy and the daughter had a rare stomach disease and she died as a teenager. Now, all of them are in wheelchairs, and mom and dad just struggling to make it and they are the most hopeful, optimistic family that I've ever met. And I said to myself when I left them, I said, you know what, I've got to do something
I did a fundraiser. Right before I went on stage, you called me. I don't even know how you found out, but you called me right, literally right before I went on stage and you said, "Why didn't you tell me, man. They're all hunters. I want to do something."
NUGENT: Well, I tracked you down because I am a bow hunter, man. I can get you wherever you go, Beck, I promise you.
GLENN: It was bizarre. I looked on my cell phone and like, it's Ted Nugent.
NUGENT: I just wanted to make sure I put the spotlight on the overwhelming good that is alive and well in America. And let me just really simply say that I'm a pretty tough guy. I made it on my own. I fought a lot of battles in my life. I like to think I'm pretty strong and pretty individual and rugged and capable, but I've got to tell you, Glenn, after spending the week down there in Texas with Rick Clark and Chris and Russell and Lael and Ben, I am a stronger man, I am a more appreciative man, I am a better man because of spending the time not just with the Clarks but with the Knowlton family and Pete and Paul Wilson and all the volunteers, all the helpers, the tough guys that helped Chris and Russ and Lael and Ben. They really can't get out of their chairs, you know, and --Â
GLENN: Yeah, they're to the point to where they can't even -- because they're hunters.
NUGENT: And they love -- you know, I think I've about convinced you now that there's a spirituality to the outdoor lifestyle, especially in hunting camp.
GLENN: Can I tell you something, Ted? I thought of you the other day. My son came up to me and he said -- because he's been talking about, you know, when can I get my own gun, Dad." And I'm like, "You're 4. So it will be a while." He came up to me and he sat down in my lap. We were just talking and it was so great. My 4-year-old says to me, Dad, Uncle Adam and I, we're all going hunting together. And I said, oh, are we? He said, yep, yep, I talked to Uncle Adam, we're going to go hunting. We're going to hunt for bear and then we're going to go to the moon.
NUGENT: Of course we are. That's the kind of dreams I like right there.
GLENN: That's right.
NUGENT: In fact, you know what we ought to do, Glenn, we ought to go hunting for bear on moon.
GLENN: That's what I said, combine them. He said, Dad, there's no bears on the moon.
NUGENT: Glenn, you opened up the spotlight to the Clark family. I knew if they wanted to hunt, that they were limited, that they would love to get back in the outdoors and I've got to tell you, the smiles, the laughter, the tears, every day tears of joy flowed at the Knowltons' Laguna Vista ranch. The volunteers, the father Rick and certainly this old guitar player, the fortification, the awakening, the positive energy and the spirit that you talked about the Clarks, my God, was it contagious.
GLENN: Amazing.
NUGENT: And it just glowed nonstop. So thank you for putting the spotlight on that.
GLENN: Oh, yeah.
NUGENT: And remember that hunting is in our soul. And when a family like the Clarks miss it. I was so proud to share that campfire as they relive it again. This Pete Ogden, White Bridge Tooling created this apparatus to go on their chairs with the same joystick as the chair and they were able to kill 13 big game animals without leaving their wheelchairs, man.
GLENN: Unbelievable.
NUGENT: It's unbelievable.
GLENN: That's good. So Ted, let me just switch gears with you here because time is limited and I want to talk to you. You know, gun sales are up 10 to 30% right now.
NUGENT: Good.
GLENN: And I really -- you are darn right good. I really, for the first time in my life, I mean, I was afraid, on September 11th I thought, oh, man, what is happening to us. Even though I knew what was happening to us, it still had some fear in me. But I knew we were going to make it because we would always be America. And I said on the air, nothing will ever come and destroy us. We will only destroy ourself. I am truly fearful that we are on the verge of destroying ourselves and our First Amendment rights and our Second Amendment rights could go away in a blink of an eye. Do you think that's crazy?
NUGENT: Certainly that fear and danger exists, but I think it always has. And yes, it's more demonstrative right now. But here's my take on it, Glenn. And remember, I've shared already this season just in October, I've shared probably 30 hunting camps in 30 different areas with just people from every imaginable walk of life. All my friends were already armed to the teeth because we have an instinct to protect ourselves and defend our families. I am convinced that the surge in gun sales is a good thing and that the vast, vast majority of them, just like the vast majority of Americans every day who are armed, will use them properly, logically, and legally. It is the lunatic fringe that is being emboldened during this economic disaster right now.
GLENN: Yes.
NUGENT: And if they want to attack good people to take our stuff and increase crime, I have an invitation on the Glenn Beck show: Let's get it on.
GLENN: You scare me and give me hope.
NUGENT: Thank you.
GLENN: Because you scare me.
NUGENT: You are talking, the Alamo is our friend.
GLENN: I know, I know, brother. You know, I love -- one of the best lines I had ever heard came from Davy Crockett when he was being weasels. He said, you know what, you can all go to hell. I'll going to Texas.
NUGENT: Bingo. Glenn, guess who else said that?
GLENN: You?
NUGENT: Yeah, baby. Glenn, you've got to come down to Texas. The Knowlton family down there, you've got to meet the people that I hang with. It is hope embodied. The greatest people, people who will give until they can't give any more and then they will still give you some more.
GLENN: Yeah. And you know why that is? Because they rely on themselves.
NUGENT: Bingo.
GLENN: When you rely on yourself, you are a self-made person. You don't owe anybody for anything. I mean, even all the way down to debt. When you get yourself into debt, you are a slave to the people you owe money to.
NUGENT: Bingo. I just signed a copy for you, Glenn. It should be showing up any day, of Ted, White and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto. The Clark family logic, the logic of everybody I know, everybody I know about being the best that they can be, setting the alarm clock, taking care of business. It is embodied in my book, Ted, White and Blue and it is a celebration of what I witness every day, the good still outweighs the bad and the ugly, but the good must fight to minimize the bad and the ugly. That's the forward motion of America.
GLENN: Ted, love you. Talk to you again, man.
NUGENT: God speed.