Judge drops discrimination lawsuit against gun store owner

INVERNESS (FOX 13) - A U.S. District Judge has dismissed a federal discrimination lawsuit filed against a gun store owner and his "Muslim Free Zone."

In the 12 page ruling written by Judge Beth Bloom, it said The Council on American-Islamic Relations or CAIR, "insufficiently alleged imminent harm," and, "There are simply no facts grounding the assertion that Plaintiff (CAIR) and/or one of its constituents will be harmed."

"I have never denied a Muslim the right to buy guns here because they've never tried to buy guns here," Andy Hallinan, owner of Florida Gun Supply, said. "We laid out the facts. We laid out the evidence, and the evidence very clearly showed that I did not discriminate."

This summer Hallinan, went viral on YouTube in a video where he declared his store to be a "Muslim Free Zone."

CAIR filed suit claiming Muslim-American rights were infringed upon by the declaration.

CAIR Florida Executive Director Hassan Shibly said he was not disappointed by the ruling, and he thinks it serves as a warning to Hallinan.

"The judge simply said that we didn't have standing because nobody from our organization actually went and got service denied," Shibly said. "If somebody from the Muslim community were to go and get a denial of service then Andy will be liable. So we are very excited about that and it should be sending him a strong message once he gets over the initial elation."

Hallinan's celebration, again, played out in a YouTube video.

"My message to CAIR today: Justice has been served, and victory is sweet. In response to this epic victory against the Council for American-Islamic Relations, we've got a few things for our customers," Hallinan said on video while standing outside his store.

He's selling "MFZ" (Muslim Free Zone) bumper stickers and - as Hallinan called them - Mohammed targets, which depict a jihadist holding an AK47.

The new merchandise has already struck a nerve with CAIR.

"It is shameful that Andy is trying to make money by promoting fear and hate at the expense of dividing our nation," Shibly said.

CAIR has 30 days to appeal the judge's ruling, which they plan to do.