Ted Nugent used to live in my home town of Concord, Michigan.  It’s a small town of about 1,000 people, and it’s where I attended school (K-12).  Besides being a rock guitarist, he is also known for hunting.  In fact, he’s in the bowhunter’s hall of fame and not the rock and roll hall of fame. Of course, the rock and roll hall of fame is a joke since they won’t admit Rush. Anyway, Mr. Nugent has been in some hot water lately for some remarks he made about president Obama.  It’s probably not a super good idea to say that you’re going to be dead or in jail if Obama gets re-elected (even if it is some kind of metaphor).  It will land you a meeting with the secret service.  He’s also been in some hot water for violating a hunting law in Alaska.

Even though he has hunted in Alaska for almost 40 years, he managed to violate a law and has to pay:

Nugent is forbidden from hunting in Alaska or any United States national forest for one year and must serve two years’ probation. He also must pay a $10,000 fine and $600 in restitution to the state of Alaska.

He violated this law unwittingly by shooting a bear after making a non-lethal hit on a previous bear. Evidently, if you shoot at a bear and hit it (even if it is not injured), the tag you bought is “filled,” and you cannot shoot another bear.  He did this while filming for a television show, and the violation actually occurred on published film.  I have no doubt that he did not realize he was breaking the law.

He has pled guilty to his charge and acknowledges that he should have been aware of the law.  But, he does mention in his statement how confusing it is becoming to navigate all of the rules and regulations.

Was I negligent in not knowing the Alaska bear hunting rule for the specific region I hunted that year? Absolutely. For my negligence, I have been charged with a violation and I plead guilty. To the best of my knowledge, I am the only person ever charged with violating this new, unheard of law. Lifetime AK hunters, guides, outfitters, even the resident judge at my hearing were unaware of such an unprecedented regulation.

The outdoor lifestyle cannot be preserved for future generations of sportsmen by constructing such a labyrinth of confusing, unscientific and oftentimes counterproductive regulations and rules. Reversing this trend is my focus.

Since Mr. Nugent hasn’t made many friends lately, I can see why a lot of people think he should have known better. He’s rich, right?  Can’t he have some lawyer check that stuff for him?  Well, according to him, not even the judge knew about this rule. But, please don’t use the excuse that he should have known better when they haul you off for buying too much cold medicine or saving a baby woodpecker.  There’s a whole list of things you might want to investigate here before you head out for the day.

I would venture to say that everyone violates the law on a weekly basis.  We usually violate the law without realizing it either because we’ve always done it and it’s never been enforced, or because everyone else does it, too. Until you read your city’s municipal code book and the enacted statutes in your state, you cannot assume that you are a law-abiding citizen.  It’s easy to break the law these days. We really shouldn’t blame Ted for breaking the law without knowing it. We should agree with him on at least one point — there are too many confusing laws.