This reminded me of a story from last September about an Arkansas Gun Range banning Muslims. No doubt there are others making the same decision. Hallinan’s story is especially important because of his explicit citation of federal law to back up his position.
By banning the sale of guns to Muslims who interpret the Koran literally, Florida Gun Supply owner Andrew Hallinan says he wants to “offend as many people as [possible]” in hopes of “[starting] a conversation about the political correctness that… [is] causing loss of life that we could prevent if we looked at Islam for what it is.”
This is wholly reasonable, and Hallinan’s position deserves serious consideration. Background checks on firearms purchases could also look for links between Muslims and radicalized mosques with known ties to Islamic terrorism, whether through jihad terrorists associated with the mosques, or through jihad financing trials in which they are implicated. There certainly are plenty of such links to investigate.
Hallinan gives himself ample maneuvering room by noting that “the ATF expressly gives me the right and authority to deny service to anybody that I feel is a threat for any reason.”
For this very reason, all Muslims seeking to purchase firearms or earn pilots licenses should come under increased scrutiny. More and more Muslims in the U.S. already are committing jihad terrorist acts. Since Islam is proven to be the sole constant motivating these followers of Muhammad and the Koran, our nation is fitfully starting to have this “conversation,” which boils down to, “How do we deal with a militant, adversarial religious ideology in our midst, which has fourteen centuries of aggression and conquest behind it, and whose founder, holy books and most zealous adherents call for our overthrow?”
“Florida Gun Store Owner Bans Muslims in wake of Chattanooga Attack,” by AWR Hawkins, Breitbart News, July 21, 2015:
Florida Gun Supply owner Andrew Hallinan is instituting a ban on selling guns to Muslims who interpret the Koran literally. In making the announcement, he declared his store a “Muslim-free zone.”
His ban also covers any training or services Muslims might have otherwise received.
Hallinan announced the ban in front of a Confederate flag and told CNN he wanted the announcement to “offend as many people as [possible]” in hopes of “[starting] a conversation about the political correctness that has become overly extreme here in the United States and [is] causing loss of life that we could prevent if we looked at Islam for what it is.”
CNN’s Carol Costella responded by saying, “I’m all for conversation, alright, but you’re going one step farther–you’re banning Muslims who follow the Koran from your store. How do you determine which Muslim follows the Koran?”
Hallinan responded by admitting that it is going to be a difficult ban to enforce at all times, precisely because of the difficulty of ascertaining who follows the Koran literally and who doesn’t.
He then said:
I can’t, by law, ask each and every person who comes through my doors what their religious background is. But the ATF expressly gives me the right and authority to deny service to anybody that I feel is a threat for any reason. And it happens on weekly basis that we have people come through the gun shop [and] they pass their background check but they seem a little off. And we make a determination on a case by case basis whether or not we’re going to arm and train these people.
Costella asked Hallinan if he would deny services to “white supremacists” as well, and Hallinan said he “won’t arm and train anyone from the KKK” or “someone from a white supremacy movement or anything like that.”