OKTAHA, Okla. — In a small Oklahoma town of only 390 people, residents are expressing distaste at a sign stating a local business is a “Muslim free establishment.”

Chad Neal and Nicole Mayhorn, owners of Save Yourself Survival and Tactical Gear, posted the sign the day after the July 16 fatal shooting of four Marines and a Navy sailor in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 

Several Oktaha residents likened the sign — printed in red on 8 1/2” by 11” paper — to discriminatory practices of Jim Crow laws.

“It’s not right,” Oktaha resident Jewel Hall said. “It’s just like not serving someone because of their race. Just because someone is a Muslim doesn’t mean they’re a terrorist.”

Hall said she did not know any Muslims living in Oktaha.

Neal and Mayhorn said the sign was posted to comfort their customer base.

“It’s not a discriminatory thing. It’s for our comfort and the safety of our customers,” Mayhorn said. “We feel that they deserve a right to come and practice and bring their family and feel safe; that’s why we’re doing this.”

Neal said they have seen significant support from the community, locally and nationally. 

However, many of those supporters declined to comment on the record to The Muskogee, Oklahoma Phoenix.

One supporter, Dusty Terry, a Eufaula resident, said he thought the sign was “awesome” when he saw it.

Jackie Colbert, manager of the gas station across the road from the store, said the sign was in bad taste.

“If it was my store, no way in hell I’d put that up,” Colbert said.

Colbert, a Christian, said every religion has its fanatics, referencing the radical Westboro Baptist Church from Topeka, Kansas as one example.

Mayhorn and Neal said their customers do not want Muslims in the store because of a stigma. They said the stigma stems from a failure of peaceful Muslims to denounce acts of violence and “stand against radical Islam terrorists.”

“We’re law-abiding American citizens that love our country and way of life,” Neal said.

Neal said he was unaware if any Muslims had been in their store. They said, if asked, they would not remove the sign. The owners later added a sign stating members of the media needed permission to be on their property.

“Until the Muslims want to overcome the stigmatism that comes with their ‘religion’ — and I use that term loosely — and want to take a stand with America, then maybe,” Mayhorn said.

Grimwood writes for the Muskogee, Okla. Phoenix.