After ordering Nathan Kirk, owner of Alabama's Blount County Tactical gun store in Oneonta, to return a personal license plate with the acronym "LGBFJB," the state is now permitting the plate to stand and is apologizing for its effort to censor free speech.
While the letters are widely known to represent the political statement "Let's go, Brandon, F*** Joe Biden," the letters themselves cannot be verified by the state to include "objectionable language," according to Alabama.com.
Kirk said that he has received a notice permitting his "LGBFJB" plate, along with an apology.
"The Alabama Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division, has determined the above referenced license plate will not be recalled," the March 9 letter to Kirk read. "We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."
After receiving a Feb. 17 warning about the "objectionable language," Kirk successfully argued that the letters "LGBFJB" cannot verifiably be vulgar, adding that the F was for "forget'' Joe Biden, according to the report.
"If one side can say their opinion, why should another side feel like they can't?" Kirk told AL.com.
Kirk, who has appeared on Newsmax to state his case against censoring his free speech on his vanity plate, added a "Don't Tread on Me" plate cover that includes the phrase "Let's go Brandon."
That phrase has become a rallying cry for disenfranchised voters who object to the Biden administration after an NBC Sports reporter erroneously reported NASCAR fans were chanting "Let's Go, Brandon" after a Brandon Brown race victory, when they were actually chanting "F*** Joe Biden."
"I see it as a goofy tag," Kirk told AL.com. "But the meaning behind it does seem like a victory. Not like I was just throwing a fit that somebody told me I couldn't do something, it was the principle is what I was fighting for."
Kirk applied for the personalized plate in October and paid $700.
"The Alabama Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division, has determined the above referenced license plate contains objectionable language which is considered by the Department to be offensive to the peace and dignity of the State of Alabama," the Feb. 17 letter to Kirk read.
The state had told AL.com it was concerned about the F letter, which Kirk argued stands for "forget" and not the vulgarity.
"The department does not allow the 'F-word,' or any acronym for such, on a personalized license plate; that is the department's only issue with this plate," spokesman Frank Miles emailed AL.com on March 1.
Oneonta is in north-central Alabama, 37 miles northeast of Birmingham.