Lawsuit says Missouri shooting range made Muslim woman remove hijab to use facility

A gun range in Kansas City, Mo., is facing a federal lawsuit for allegedly refusing to let a Muslim woman use the range unless she removed her hijab, according to the court filing.

The filing alleges that Rania Barakat and her husband were denied service at the Frontier Justice gun range in Jackson Co. in 2020. Barakat was wearing a hijab and the range’s policy banned headwear with the exception of front-facing baseball caps.   

In a statement to The Hill, The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), confirmed that the organization and Baldwin & Vernon Law filed a complaint with United States District Court in Kansas City.

CAIR added that according to various online reviews, Muslims wearing a hijab have been denied service at Frontier Justice several times.   

Frontier Justice told The Associated Press last year that head coverings are a safety risk because they could catch the hot brass when firing a firearm.

“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,” Frontier Justice President Bren Brown said in a statement to the AP last year. “We pride ourselves on this fact, and we strongly believe in America and the second amendment that is for every single American.”

The complaint filed by CAIR and Baldwin & Vernon Law said, “Defendants have denied Muslims who wear hijab entry to Frontier Justice, based on violations of their dress code policy, while allowing similarly situated individuals who wear headcaps or other clothing that similarly covers the neck and head to enter their facility and access to their services.”

In a statement, CAIR-Kansas Board Chairman Moussa Elbayoumy said, “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.”

When CAIR asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate civil rights practices at Frontier Justice in July, Brown said Barakat was not discriminated against and was asked to follow a dress code that is applied to all customers equally, The Kansas City Star reported.