SMERCONISH: The Virginia Tech massacre is almost certain to reignite the debate about our gun laws. Cho Seung-Hui was found with a backpack containing a receipt for a Glock .9-millimeter pistol that he bought in March. His fingerprints were also found on two handguns used in the rampage, while the serial numbers on the weapons had been filed off.
I`m joined by Ted Nugent, legendary entertainer, as well as outspoken sportsman and gun advocate.
Ted, a lot of folks wonder, what does Ted Nugent think as he reacts to a tragedy such as this?
TED NUGENT, MUSICIAN: Well, I think with the same heart-and-soul logic that America joins you today with a grieving and shattered heart, Michael.
The Nugent family is praying as hard as we have ever prayed for the families, and equally so for the pulse of America that is allowing this mind-set that somehow gun-free zones, with irrefutable evidence that all these tragedies, all these mass shootings have occurred across the board in gun-free zones.
Yet, there are still those amongst those who desire the very system of a gun-free zone that facilitates and enables this kind of unstoppable slaughter.
And my stomach is absolutely sickened right now. I`m spending a lot of time with my children, with the local schools and local law enforcement, as I have, following every tragedy, and, obviously, just as a concerned parent, to make sure that the tactics, the level of awareness, the observation increase and upgrade is taking place in my neighborhoods. And I encourage all parents to be that involved and demand an upgrade, based on the evidence that we have now.
SMERCONISH: In other words, Ted Nugent says there will be those who will say this is exhibit A now as to why there needs to be increased gun regulation. And your reply is, indeed, there was gun regulation on the Virginia Tech campus. It was a gun-free zone. And, if you can`t have safety there, then it tells you something.
NUGENT: And, again, Michael, you know, I`m just a guitar player, but I like to pay attention to my wonderful country. And the evidence is unlimited, non-stop, irrefutable once again across this country.
In Oregon, where a Columbine tragedy was unfolding, it was a student who went to his truck and got a .22 squirrel rifle and stopped the mass murder. It was a citizen, an off-duty cop in Salt Lake City, that stopped an armed monster from killing citizens at random. He stopped it.
It was just up the road from Virginia Tech where an Appalachia law school, students once again retrieved legally owned firearms and stopped an armed assault. Who is not getting this information? Who is pretending this isn`t how it works? Those are the people I`m really angry at.
SMERCONISH: Ted, this morning, on my radio program -- and I knew this comment was coming -- and you have heard it before -- more than one individual said to me, why does someone need a .9-millimeter Glock? That N-word, need, would you respond to that?
NUGENT: Well, Michael, there are hundreds of millions -- and I hope people will write this down some day -- hundreds of millions of law-abiding American families with hundreds of millions of lawfully owned guns, none of which are going to be used in violence, crime or accident.
The sheer numbers of zeros following the decimal point in the percentage of guns used in crime is beyond inconsequential. That does not compromise or negate the heartbreaking tragedy of any kind of accident, any kind of violent crime.
But when will we learn that, at Luby`s cafeteria, at Pearl, Mississippi, at the pizza parlor in New York City, where Mayor Bloomberg thought it was reasonable gun control to disarm cops? That`s how insane this has gotten. There`s been quite a debate at Virginia Tech, where lawfully possessed firearms and gun owners with lawfully procured government scrutinized concealed weapons permits are forbidden to use those concealed weapons permits on the Virginia Tech grounds.
Does anybody join me in realizing that 32 people were killed because the killer wasn`t stopped? I don`t want to come off like I know all the answers. But, again, the evidence is overwhelming. If a good guy with a gun can stop evil crime and tragedy so often, why can`t we apply that policy instead of Sarah Brady`s gun-free zone policy?
SMERCONISH: Hey, Nuge, thank you.
I`m joined now by Paul Helmke. He is the president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Thank you, sir, for being here.
Respond to what you have just heard from Ted Nugent.
PAUL HELMKE, PRESIDENT, BRADY CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: It`s obvious, after yesterday`s tragedy, that what we`re doing now in this country is not working. And there`s a lot of reasons it doesn`t work.
And maybe what Nuge is suggesting is something that we should debate in this country. Actually, when most academicians look at it, they conclude that homes that have a gun, communities that have -- I mean, homes that have more guns, communities that have more guns, states that have more guns, and countries that have more guns end up with more violence.
Part of the problem is, is these gun-free zones, they are not working either, because it`s so easy to walk out of that zone and pick up that .9- millimeter. And, now that we don`t have restrictions on the size of the clips that this individual can get, you can get the clip that is going to fire off those shots.
I don`t know how good of a shot Nuge is, but I know that, when I was a mayor, and I was dealing with my police department in Fort Wayne, Indiana, when someone got a jump on somebody, even if you`re a trained officer, it`s tough to respond quickly and wisely.
And you can be sitting in a classroom with 30 people, and, if they`re firing a semiautomatic, and you can get off 30 rounds in 30 seconds, somebody is going to get killed. I would like to stop those guns from getting into the hands of those people and into those schools and into those killing situations in the first place.
If we can prevent this from starting, then we don`t need to worry about who is going to be taking the last shot.
SMERCONISH: But, Paul, doesn`t -- doesn`t Nuge have a point when he says that one of the ironies here is that, indeed, this occurred in a gun- free zone? And doesn`t it raise the issue that these laws that we put on the books, that they affect those who are law-abiding; and the individual, the deranged individual who is out there, and is hell-bent on killing folks doesn`t care what the law is and somehow is going to get that weapon?
HELMKE: It`s -- when people want to break laws, they`re going to break laws. Most lawbreakers don`t break every law, because they know they are more likely to get caught. So, they follow the law in some things.
When we had laws that said you couldn`t sell clips with more than 10 rounds, people weren`t buying clips with more than 10 rounds very easily. This morning, I went on a web page and I found a clip with 33 rounds that I could buy for the gun that was used here for under $30.
That`s the sort of problems we`re having. We make it too easy to get this kind of weaponry into our communities. It`s great to talk about the hypothetical situation where Superman, Nuge, whoever -- that`s great -- responds to the guy that`s already standing in the doorway and already shooting.
But, in real life, what happens is, somebody loses that gun; somebody misuses that gun; somebody gets drunk; somebody gets angry; somebody makes a mistake. And you end up -- and you end up with people that are dead or injured.
SMERCONISH: Hey, Paul, thank you for being with us. We appreciate having both sides represented.
And we will be right back in just a moment.
HELMKE: Thank you.
