'Muslim-free' Arkansas gun range draws wary eye of Justice Department [View all]
Source: The Guardian
'Muslim-free' Arkansas gun range draws wary eye of Justice Department
Max Blau in Atlanta
Friday 1 May 2015 17.59 BST
On a Sunday afternoon in early January, a father and son walked into the Gun Cave Indoor Firing Range in the 35,600-person town of Hot Springs, Arkansas. They were hoping to fire rounds at targets, just as they have done at the same facility in past years, then under different ownership. During their latest visit, owner Jan Morgan asked the South Asian men to leave the range and threatened to call the cops if they did not.
Their visit came four months after Morgan made national headlines for saying she would not allow Muslims at her range, and the father and son both Hindu told local media they thought she mistook their identities because of their brown skin.
Their alleged refusal of service based on their perceived religion has forced the gun range into the middle of a national civil rights fight.
Last September, Morgan declared her business to be a Muslim-free zone, a policy that set off a firestorm among religious and civil liberties advocates for denying rights protected under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. After calls for an investigation, the US Department of Justice recently confirmed that officials are keeping an eye on the shooting range for allegations of civil rights violations.
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http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/01/muslim-free-zone-gun-cave-shooting-range-arkansas-justice-department