Who/Where Is the Ted Nugent of Your Issue?

Sportsman activists are essential
Friday, July 18, 2008
By Brandon Butler

Listening to Ted Nugent's speech at the National Rifle Association's annual meeting put goose bumps on the back of my neck.
The conviction in his voice is enough to make you beg to follow. He is so adamant about his belief in the Second Amendment and his right to "keep and bear arms," that he has been willing to take on the world. I don't know if I have ever heard someone speak so freely; so honestly about their personal views.

Guns are always a hot button. Guns sway elections, incite laws, and get blamed for human suffering. These are big issues and as a sportsman, and more importantly as an advocate of freedom, I am concerned. But let's face it; it's not about the guns. Every intelligent person on both sides of the line realizes the truth. And that truth is that criminals hurt people and criminals kill people.

Creating a "law" to ban guns is supposed to stop a criminal from committing robbery or murder? Creating a law to stop someone from breaking the law; is that the most asinine thing you have ever heard? All gun laws do is make life easier for criminals. It's not about the guns. It's about government control.

Therefore, I am so very thankful for Ted Nugent and the NRA, and all they do to protect the rights of gun owners. I joined as a life member to help protect my freedoms.

Now guns may be a hot button, but they aren't my biggest issue. My biggest issue is land development. I can't recite the rate at which we are plowing down forests and paving over fields in the name of development, but it's alarming. What's even more alarming is the amount of land that has already been developed that is sitting vacant.

Downtowns across this country are boarded up, looking like ghost towns while civil sprawl moves society closer to the interstate. People don't have time to get off the highway and into town, so new subdivisions closer to exits pop up each week. Why can't we rebuild areas that have worn out? Why can't people be satisfied with what we've taken from the earth already? Where is the Ted Nugent of this issue?

I'm not going to talk much about drilling for fossil fuels. You're buying the same gas I am. We know there is a problem. Electric cars could be out tomorrow, but how would the economy fare? Could people afford one these vehicles? What would happen to all the people employed in relation to the cars we drive today? So we'll just keep on keeping on until there is no choice left. Where is the Ted Nugent of this issue?

Now I normally write about enjoying the outdoors and pleasure derived in nature, and I don't like getting my feathers ruffled too much, but it deeply hurts me to know these traditions of outdoor passion I hold so dear, may not even exist in the not-so-far off future.

Countless people are already giving up hunting and fishing due to a lack of places to go. There are of course public lands, but few people achieve the false sense of "success" marketing and advertising agencies have established to sell their goods. It's too bad these outdoor mega companies can't see past the last zero of their bank account, because if they could, they would realize they are killing their own industry. Where's the Ted Nugent of this issue?

Yes, Uncle Ted is protected by the insulation of fame and fortune, but regardless of his securities, he lays it all on the line. Now if only there was a Ted Nugent to stand up for every issue concerning sportsmen today.

I hope to do more and more as time goes on. What issue is under your skin and what have you done about it?

See you down the trail …

Brandon is an outdoor writer for the Greene County Daily World. To read more of Brandon's stories, visit his Web site at www.driftwoodoutdoors.com