Nugent book stop
peaceful

Rocker signs copies at LoDo bookstore

By John C. Ensslin
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

Two police officers stood guard Monday as rock
‘n’ roll gun rights advocate Ted Nugent signed
copies of his new book.

The autograph session at the Tattered Cover Lodo
went peacefully as several dozen fans lined up
with copies of God, Guns and Rock N’ Roll.

There was a minor stir when one man asked that
Nugent sign a guitar. (Books only, Nugent’s
representative explained).

The book signing came under protest from several
people who objected to Nugent’s use of the
Columbine High School massacre as an
argument for allowing people to carry concealed
weapons.

In the book, Nugent, an avid bow hunter and a
director of the National Rifle Association,
suggests that someone could have stopped one
of the two killers as he reloaded his weapon.

“Bad guys are classic cowards,” Nugent wrote.
“But the horror of it all is it appears nearly
everybody subscribes to the cowardly lion routine.

“Even Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were nearly
robotic in their methodical slaughter. After
emptying a double-barreled shotgun, one knelt
with his back to grown adults and athletes,
sniveling, while he conversed with his next victim
for minutes on end.”

“He fired twice from an obviously two-barreled
shotgun, folks! Somebody take it away from him
and beat him senseless PLEASE!!”

Tom Mauser, whose son Daniel was one of the 12 students killed, called
Nugent’s statements “despicable.”

“I think he’s living in this fantasy world where kids are crybabies if they don’t
fight back against somebody holding a gun.”

As for Nugent’s claim that one of the gunmen could have been rushed, he
pointed out there were two killers, each with two guns, one with 15 bullets
and the other with 30.

He also noted that his own son shoved a chair at one gunman only to be shot
a second time.

“That’s why it’s so despicable for him to suggest they could have fought
back,” said Mauser, spokesman for SAFE Colorado, a gun-control group
formed after Columbine.

He had no objection to Nugent’s book signing. However, Tattered Cover owner
Joyce Meskis said the store fielded several complaints.

“It’s hard, because we have a lot of personal connections to the Columbine
community and want to do all that we can.

“But to inject our bias or the bias of another group into the decision over
whether to allow an author to come is an affront to the First Amendment.”

Contact John Ensslin at (303) 892-5291 or
[email protected]