A Muslim woman has filed a federal lawsuit against a gun range in Kansas City, Mo. after alleging that the gun range refused her service because she was wearing a hijab, a religious head covering worn by Muslim women.
The lawsuit details that since at least 2016 the Frontier Justice gun range “implemented policies and practices that deny Muslims, on account of their religion, the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, [and] accommodations of the establishment.”
In a video statement released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Rania Barakat recounts the experience and the discrimination she experienced. Barakat explains that she and her husband were denied service after she entered the facility and was told that her hijab was a violation of the gun range’s policy, a policy that bans headwear with the exception of front-facing baseball caps.
Barakat explains that when she went home and read the reviews about the gun range, she uncovered many negative reviews, a majority of which were made by Muslim women who encountered the same experience.
Barakat shared that her husband wanted to take her to the range for a fun experience, but instead, the couple “experienced racism and discrimination.” Barakat shares that she told the employee at the gun range, “I've been to other gun ranges before and I have never had this issue and she told me that this is not, you know, other gun ranges, this is their gun range and that this is their policy.”
CAIR-Kansas Board Chairman Moussa Elbayoumy contends that the policy implemented by Frontier Gun range is a discriminatory one that especially targets Muslim women. "It is completely unacceptable for a business establishment to deny service to customers based on their religious beliefs - and that is exactly what Frontier Justice has done. The claim that a hijab somehow presents a safety issue is merely a bad excuse in an attempt to justify a pattern of discriminatory treatment of Muslim women."
The president of Frontier Justice, Bren Brown, defended the policy explaining that head coverings posed a safety risk because they may catch the hot brass when the firearm is fired. Brown defended the policy in a statement explaining, "It saddens us that anyone would say we are not inclusive, given that we serve all races and religions every single day in all of our stores. We pride ourselves on this fact, and we strongly believe in America and the second amendment that is for every single American.”
Attorneys representing Barakat push back saying that Frontier Justice has a policy that discriminates against Muslims because they allow “similarly situated individuals who wear head caps or other clothing that similarly covers the neck and head to enter their facility and access to their services."
As part of a lawsuit, CAIR and Barakat are asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the policies and practices at Frontier Justice which posed a violation of civil rights.
In addition to asking for an investigation on civil rights violations, CAIR is seeking to have Frontier Justice amend their policies so that they can accommodate Muslim women who wear the head covering as well as other individuals who wear head coverings for religious beliefs.
