The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday against a gun shop whose owner declared it a "Muslim-free zone" earlier this month.

Andy Hallinan drew national media attention when he announced that he would "not arm and train those who wish to do harm to my fellow patriots" at his Florida Gun Supply in Inverness.

He made the declaration that he had "a moral and legal responsibility" to take action days after a Muslim-American man went on a shooting rampage at two Chattanooga, Tenn. military facilities by a gunman that left four Marines and one Navy sailor dead.

In the lawsuit, CAIR-FL asks the court to grant an injunction against the gun shop, prohibiting it from discriminating against Muslims or instituting any policies or practices that discriminate or segregate people on the basis of religion.

Officials at CAIR-FL criticized Hallinan after he made the declaration for discriminating against an entire religion for the act of one person. Hallinan subsequently agreed to meet and train Hassan Shibly, CAIR-FL's executive director.

But Hallinan later rescinded the invitation to Shibly after receiving a flood of e-mails and calls from people that he said warned him that CAIR had been put on the United Arab Emirates' list of designated terrorist groups.

Read Full Story