A federal judge has tossed a lawsuit against an Inverness gun shop owner who declared his store a Muslim-free zone.
CAIR Florida, which is the Council on American-Islamic Relations Florida, announced the lawsuit against the Florida Gun Supply in July. The organization said the Muslim-free zone amounted to religious discrimination, violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The suit had demanded an injunction against Florida Gun Supply to prohibit it from discriminating against Muslims and others on the basis of religion. “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 at the time the suit was filed.
“Such discrimination is not only illegal, it is bad for our country and makes us less safe and less free,” Shibly said. The organization said the policy is a violation of federal law.
However, a United States District Court judge dismissed the case this month. Judge Beth Bloom said CAIR did not prove its members were harmed by the gun store’s policy.
Florida Gun Supply owner Andy Hallinan posted a video to Facebook after the decision. He says he has bumper stickers for customers to turn their vehicles into Muslim-free zones. He’s also selling “jihadist target practices.”