Florida

‘Muslim-Free' Florida Gun Shop Facing Lawsuit

A Florida gun shop whose owner declared the store a "Muslim-free zone" is facing a lawsuit from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

CAIR announced Wednesday that they were filing the lawsuit against Florida Gun Supply in Inverness.

"American Muslims have a right to browse and purchase guns, take classes on gun safety and shoot guns at a range without having to be profiled and discriminated," Hassan Shibly, Chief Executive Director of CAIR Florida, said in a statement. "Such discrimination is not only illegal, it is bad for our country and makes us less safe and less free."

Florida Gun Supply owner Andy Hallinan declared the store a "Muslim-free zone" in a controversial Facebook video posted earlier this month to the shop's page.

Hallinan said the move was in response to the shooting of four Marines and a Navy sailor in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on July 16.

"I have a moral and legal responsibility to ensure the safety of all patriots in my community," Hallinan said in the video. "So effective immediately, I'm declaring Florida Gun Supply as a Muslim-free zone. I will not arm and train those who wish to do harm to my fellow patriots.”

Hallinan's attorney, the American Freedom Law Center's Robert Muise, called the lawsuit "completely frivolous" and said it contained no factual allegations. He also said he may seek sanctions against CAIR for filing a frivolous lawsuit.

"Mr. Hallinan has an obligation to not train or equip terrorists and he refuses to do so," Muise said. "This is about public safety."

CAIR says the store's policy violates federal law.

"CAIR Florida has gone above and beyond to amicably reach a resolution outside of court with Florida Gun Supply regarding its discriminatory policies," CAIR Florida Civil Rights Director Thania Diaz Clevenger said in a statement. "We want to make the law crystal-clear to any businesses elsewhere contemplating the implementation of such policies that religious discrimination is still illegal in the United States of America and that American Muslims are just as much entitled to their rights as every other American is."

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