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A Douglasville, Ga. man is up in arms after he was forced to remove his cap before casting an early ballot at the Douglas County Courthouse late last week. The cap, which promotes the fact that he is a National Firearms Association instructor, is far from a political statement, he explained.
A GA man is told by election officials he cannot vote unless he removes NRA cap. He is an NRA instructor. #socialism #hypocrisy
— Vaughn Blue Jr (@vaughnblue) October 28, 2014
County officials, however, apparently disagreed and told him he must remove the garment before voting. Laurie Fulton of the Douglas County Board of Elections attempted to explain the decision.
NRA firearms instructor NOT allowed to wear an NRA ball cap while voting. R they stopping ALL those obaMAO t-shirts into the polls too?!?!
— BWH (@BaconUp) October 28, 2014
“NRA is not particularly, you know, not a particular candidate,” she said; “but the courts have found that anything that suggests, associated with, the NRA in many people’s perceptions is associated with the Republican Party. So in an overabundance of caution, Mr. Cobb was asked to remove the cap so that no one could, you know, interpret that we were favorite, playing favoritism toward one party over another.”
NRA Instructor not allowed 2vote wearing his NRA Instructor cap bc it shows he leans toward a political party while ppl hold signs outside.
— Tia (@Tia4America) October 28, 2014
When pressed by the Daily Caller, Fulton was unable to produce any evidence to support her claim that courts have upheld her contention. Instead, she confirmed only that she believes his hat “fell under the same sort of gray area” as shirts bearing messages – including ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ – that have become popular among Tea Party supporters.
Cobb was dissatisfied with her labored defense, noting that he personally knows a number of Democrats affiliated with the NRA. Furthermore, he said that he has worn the same hat to vote on at least three previous occasions.
“It’s definitely not campaigning,” he said, “and it’s absolutely infringing on my rights to express myself.”
The cap, he concluded, is meant only to advertise a service he provides, not a political ideology.
H/T: The Blaze
BCN editor’s note: This article first appeared at Western Journalism.
