Lovers of the Second Amendment and dried, salted meat, mark your calendars. This week, native-Iowan filmmaker, Fritz Jnker, brings his controversial gun-toting, jerky-making, dark comedy “The Truth About Beef Jerky” to Des Moines.

The film is featured in an exhibition of local films that deal with controversial subjects, which is why the program has been rated NC-17.

“The Truth About Beef Jerky” features Count Nugent, a caricatured version of heavy-metal legend Ted Nugent as the leader of an elite team of redneck hunters out to bag that most prized of big game — hippies.

The screening will be the film’s Midwest premiere.

Jnker says Ted Nugent was the obvious choice of protagonist for his film.

“I find him, as a person, fascinating. He is irreplaceable. You could not come up with a better character than the real life Ted Nugent,” Jnker says.

Like every good sportsman, Count Nugent uses everything he kills. The bounty of Count Nugent’s annual thinning of the hippie population is converted into his very own special brand of beef jerky.

Jnker stresses that “Beef Jerky” is a comedy and not meant to endorse the kind of violence or behavior portrayed in the film. He says, however, that audiences should not miss out on the subtle commentary.

“It is meant to be a dark comedy that makes you feel guilty about laughing, that tells you a lot about people in general,” Jnker says.

The exhibition will also feature “Billy and Sally’s Big Abandoned Refrigerator Adventure” by Keith Allen.

In Allen’s film, two children, Billy and Sally, are left unattended and become involved in all manner of outrageous — even gruesome — activities not recommended for toddlers.

“One moment that gets a reaction is when they poke a burn victim with a stick,” Allen says, describing his favorite moment of the film to watch with audiences.

Allen says the film grew out of a conversation he had with a co-worker while working a temp job.

“We were reading an Internet list of children’s books you will never see,” Allen says.

“We were cracking up, so we came up with our own title and just decided what would go on. We wrote the whole thing in rhyming verse — it was like Dr. Seuss meets Chucky.”

Allen could not find any parents willing to let their children be involved in his twisted nursery rhyme, so he cast “Billy and Sally’s Big Abandoned Refrigerator Adventure” with two three-foot-tall dolls in the starring roles.

Allen and his fellow filmmakers dubbed their technique “offensive-vision” after a common reaction to their film.

Allen says he believes, however, people taking offense to his film are simply getting the wrong idea.

“Some people get very angry when they see it,” he says. “They think we are sending out a bad message to children, which is ridiculous. This is not for children.”

Jnker has a lot at stake with his movie.

The real Ted Nugent is scheduled to play in Des Moines one day before the exhibition, finally giving Jnker a chance to screen his film for the man who inspired it.

“I am doing all I can to get him and his wife there,” he says. “I believe he will laugh hysterically.”

What: “The Truth About Beef Jerky”

Where: Fleur Cinema and Cafe, 4545 Fleur Drive, Des Moines

When: 8 p.m. Thursday

Cost: $7 in advance, $10 day of show