A veteran in Georgia, who is a certified National Rifle Association instructor and was asked by polling workers to remove his NRA hat before voting because it was too closely associated with the Republican Party, presumably because it is pro-gun.
Bundy Cobb was livid over the request, saying, “It is absolutely infringing on my rights to express myself […] it doesn’t endorse any candidate or anything else.”
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Cobb was merely advertising his business by wearing the hat.
“I went by the first two ladies, and they didn’t say anything. And then the next lady, she said ‘sir, you’re going to have to take off your hat,'” Cobb told the Daily Caller.
“What are you talking about?” Cobb asked the woman.
Once he saw another man down the line with a hat on, Cobb asked, “What’s the difference between his hat and mine?”
This is when the poll worker stated that the hat was too closely associated with the GOP.
“Your hat has NRA on it,” she told him.
“What’s that got to do with anything,” he asked.
“It’s perceived to be Republican Party,” she replied.
“That ain’t right,” Cobb told her. “That don’t make no sense.”
He told a NBC affiliate in Atlanta that he complied so he could vote.
Cobb called the actions “ridiculous,” and said that he has worn the same hat to the same polling place three times.
One would think some common sense would come into play here, especially in Georgia. However, the Country elections workers are standing by the decision and saying that no one can wear political apparel to the polls.
This is nothing more than intimidation by the poll worker. What Cobb should have done was ignored the request (and yes, that’s what it is because there is no law that states he cannot wear a hat like that) and voted anyway. If there was trouble, the sheriff could have been called in to deal with it and put the polling worker in her place. After all, Douglas County Sheriff Phil Miller didn’t have any problem telling A&E they weren’t welcome following the backlash against Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty after his anti-sodomy comments.
I guess this is par for the course for some people who are anti-gun. Last year, 14-year-old Jared Marcum was arrested at Logan Middle School in West Virginia because he was wearing a NRA t-shirt.
While Cobb has registered a complaint, what should be done if this happens again is that people should not leave the polling area until they get to vote and if Sheriff Miller needs to come facilitate, then so be it, but this is nothing more than political intimidation and the polling worker should not be allowed to work the polls in the future.
In fact, on a final note, for those in Douglas County, why don’t you all go out and buy a NRA hat and go to the polls on Tuesday with them on. There’s nothing unlawful about it and furthermore it will be a way of giving poke to the very tactics that were used against Mr. Cobb.
