Ted Nugent to Newsmax: Right to Self-Defense Under Attack

Ted Nugent believes the right to self-defense is under attack in America, and he finds that truly “bizarre.”

The veteran rock musician and gun enthusiast talked to Newsmax.TV on the sidelines of the National Rifle Association convention. He said he’s horrified that people are using the Trayvon Martin case to try to undermine so-called “Stand Your Ground” laws – and that such laws have to be enacted in the first place.

“We have to have a law that allows a human being to stand your ground,” Nugent said. “That’s how pathetic this politically correct cult of denial has got, that we have to authorize a person to defend himself. That’s bizarre.

“Every American with a soul and a brain knows that every human being is born with the right to defend their lives,” he said.

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Nugent, a Newsmax contributor, said he and his family pray for the Martin family and for all “victims of tragedy.” But he said he refused to convict George Zimmerman, the Florida neighborhood watch volunteer who contends he shot the unarmed 17-year-old in self-defense.

“I’d like to see the justice system [play out] – and it could be the O.J. system, and we pray it’s not this time,” he said.

Nugent said he doesn’t know everything that happened the night Martin was shot, but said it’s possible that Zimmerman had to shoot the teen in order to stop the youth from grabbing his gun.

“The best-trained warriors in the world in law enforcement and the military have been killed with their own weapons,” Nugent said.

“There is no more serious moment than a life-and-death decision and none of us are able to assist in making that decision or make that decision unless we are in that situation,” he said.

But if you are being attacked and fear that the assailant could seize your weapon, he said, “at some point your natural and proper instinct of survival kicks in and you have to neutralize the aggression” – if necessary, with a gun.

Nugent said that although he originally backed Rick Perry in the Republican presidential race, he was now enthusiastically behind likely nominee Mitt Romney. He said Romney had promised him there would be no attempts under his presidency to restrict Americans’ rights to bear arms.

“Mitt Romney apologized to me for his past mistakes on the Second Amendment,” the rocker said. “Mitt Romney convinced me that he meant it. He knows his past mistakes

“He had to function as Massachusetts’ governor. I understand pragmatism and getting the job done in the enemy’s camp.”

Conservatives who were lukewarm about Romney in the past have to realize that he is their only hope now, Nugent told Newsmax.TV.

“Right now, we have one boat that will get to America with the medicine,” he said. “There’s one boat with the medicine for America. His name is Mitt Romney. … The critical, life-and-death upgrade that Mitt Romney represents over Barack Obama is staggering.”