Virginia gun-carrying fans of rocker Ted Nugent were surprised to be told, just minutes before showtime, that the 69-year old pro-gun open-carry activist had banned all guns from his show Tuesday night.
Nugent, who is an NRA board member, was performing in a city-owned arena in Roanoke. By law the Berglund Center cannot ban guns unless the performers request firearms to be banned from the venue.
“It happened about five minutes before we opened doors, we had a security meeting before we opened doors and the subject came up and we said, ‘Yes people will be bringing firearms,'” Berglund Center General Manager Robyn Schon said, according to local NBC affiliate 10 News. Nugent’s people said, “Uh, no, our agreement says no.'”
Nugent’s management cited the Pulse massacre, which is nothing like a 10,500 seat arena, along with the Manchester terror attack, as reasons for banning weapons at the last minute.
Nugent performed before just over 1000 people, and open his show with a rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.”
“God bless America; f— everybody else,” Nugent told his audience, The Roanoke Times reports.
He also at one point told listeners, “all lives matter, you know what I mean.”
Well, not all lives.
Nugent reportedly called one grieving father of a gun violence victim a “piece of s–t” and a “dumb f–k.”
Some responses via Twitter:
Image by Michael Kappel via Flickr and a CC license