‘Muslim-free’ gun store owner to host Muslim leader at gun class

(Reuters) A Florida gun dealer who received national attention for declaring his store a "Muslim Free Zone" will host a Muslim civil rights leader in his gun class on Saturday, both men said.

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(Reuters) A Florida gun dealer who received national attention for declaring his store a “Muslim Free Zone” will host a Muslim civil rights leader in his gun class on Saturday, both men said.

Andrew Hallinan, 28, owner of Florida Gun Supply in Inverness, one hour north of Tampa, said he also agreed to study the Quran with the Muslim leader, Hassan Shibly, executive director of the Florida chapter of the Council on Islamic-American Relations.


“At the end of the day, I don’t believe my opinion is going to be swayed on the matter,” Hallinan said. “But he’s a really wonderful guy who I would consider a friend at this point, and I think he would say the same about me.”

The council on Sunday called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether Hallinan’s action last weekend violated civil rights laws.

Shibly said he initiated his appearance in the class in what he described as a diplomatic phone call to Hallinan to illustrate that person-to-person contact can counteract fear, hate and misinformation.

His presence at the store also will demonstrate to Muslim youth that no place is off-limits to them because of their faith, Shibly said.

Hallinan acknowledged it was difficult to reconcile his acceptance of Shibly with his statements in the “Muslim Free Zone” video he posted on his store’s Facebook page Saturday.

He said he did it in reaction to the deadly shootings at Tennessee military sites by a 24-year-old Muslim man whose motives are under investigation.


READ: Chattanooga shooting stirs U.S. Muslims’ concerns about radicalization


Hallinan said true Muslims believe in jihad against non-Muslims, a notion he does not think Shibly shares.


By Tuesday morning, the video had been “liked” more than 1,000 times, shared almost 3,000 times and received numerous anti-Islam comments.

Council spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said a New Hampshire gun store owner who declared his store Muslim free in a posting on Hallinan’s site has removed the posting.

Hallinan said he cannot actually ban Muslims since he had no way of knowing his customers’ faiths. But he said he can and does deny service on a case-by-case basis.

“I’m going to be looking anything that makes the hair on the back of my neck raise,” Hallinan said.

By Barbara Liston; Editing by Karen Brooks and Steve Orlofsky

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