On September 30th, the American Freedom Law Center (AFLC) filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by CAIR Florida against AFLC’s client, Florida Gun Supply.
In this lawsuit, CAIR claims that Florida Gun Supply’s refusal to equip Islamic terrorists is religious discrimination in violation of Title II of the Civil Rights Act.
On July 29th, CAIR Florida filed the lawsuit against Florida Gun Supply because its owner declared his retail gun store a “Mulsim Free Zone” following the Chattanooga, Tennessee terrorist attack in which five servicemembers were gunned down.
The owner of the gun store, Andy Hallinan, refuses to equip the next Fort Hood, Chattanooga, or Garland, Texas terrorist with dangerous firearms.
Pursuant to its official, written policy, Florida Gun Supply will not serve “[a]nyone who is either directly or indirectly associated with terrorism in any way . . .”
Consistent with his legitimate concerns about public safety, Hallinan refused to meet with and train the Chief Executive Director for CAIR Florida, citing the fact that CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing trial prosecuted to date by the federal government; the fact that the United Arab Emirates has declared CAIR a terrorist organization; and the fact that the FBI has severed its ties with CAIR because of the organization’s terrorist connections.
Nonetheless, CAIR Florida sued Florida Gun Supply in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleging religious discrimination.
AFLC Co-Founder and Senior Counsel Robert Muise commented:
“CAIR’s lawsuit is patently frivolous if not outright dangerous. No firearms dealer or gun range owner for that matter should be required to sell weapons to or train anyone that the dealer or owner has reason to believe is a terrorist threat. We all, especially those who own and operate businesses dealing with firearms, have a responsibility to prevent the next 9/11 terrorist attack. CAIR’s lawsuit seeks to prevent business owners from doing so.”
AFLC Co-Founder and Senior Counsel David Yerushalmi added:
“CAIR claims to be a civil rights organization even as it seeks to use federal law to assist would-be terrorists. CAIR was born from a jihadi terrorist conspiracy, and it has done little to distance itself from those bona fides. It is imperative that we ultimately prevail in this litigation in order to protect the public against the next terrorist attack.”