Nadine Osman

A Missouri gun range violated the civil rights of a Muslim woman by barring her entrance unless she removed her hijab, an advocacy group said. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) asked the US Department of Justice to investigate the New Year’s Day incident at Frontier Justice Gun ranges.

CAIR attorney Zanah Ghalawanji said the company “has disregarded and violated the civil rights protections by actively excluding Muslim women who wear the hijab from their business.”

Frontier Justice President, Bren Brown, said in a statement, “We pride ourselves on this fact, and we strongly believe in America and the Second Amendment that is for every single American.”

Rania Barakat recounted during an online news conference an incident that unfolded at the Frontier Justice gun range in Lee’s Summit when she went with her husband there to shoot.

The couple waited in line for an hour that day, she said, and when they approached the cashier to pay she was told that she must remove her hijab to use the facilities. Barakat said she had shot at other gun ranges without having to remove her hijab.

A Frontier Justice employee cited the company’s dress code policy, which is posted on its website, “Hats, caps, bandanas, or any other head covering will be removed in the facility, except baseball caps facing forward.”

Barakat said she was told by the range’s manager that it was “a safety issue.” She said they left when it became clear they weren’t going to let them shoot.
“I’ve encountered racism before, but it was never to the point someone told me I had to remove my scarf to enter a facility or do any type of activity like this,” she said. “It was very shocking to my husband and me.”

She later discovered online reviews about Frontier Justice that were written by other Muslim women who had also been told they needed to remove their hijabs to shoot. “To have this happen to me personally; it was very sad and, you know, frustrating,” Barakat said. “And I would never want anyone to go through what I went through.”

CAIR’s Kansas board say they had received several reports around the same time about that same facility from other Muslim women who were also told they had to remove their hijabs to shoot.