Blind war veteran in Georgia says Wal-mart wouldn't let him buy a gun

From WTOC-TV:

RINCON, Ga. -- He fought for his country, and now he's upset that one of the rights for which he fought has been denied him.

On Thursday, Charlie Monroe (pictured), a local war hero is fighting back against Walmart.

He wanted to buy a rifle as a gift.

Monroe is blind, having lost his sight in Korea, and says the right to bear arms is a constitutional right. However, he says the salesperson at the Rincon Walmart told him he could not buy the gun becasue he couldn't fill out the paperwork. He and his wife say his 2nd amendment rights were violated.

To watch Charles handle a rifle, he is like a pro, because, he is. He may be blind, but 58 years ago, Monroe lost his vision in battle, killing enemies from a fox hole, while defending an airstrip at Chosin Reservoir in 1951, and all without his sight after a grenade blast.

On Thursday, he and his wife Celia, have a new battle, they say against ignorance after he was told he couldn't buy a rifle from Walmart.

"He asked Charles to fill out the legal form," Celia said. "But Charles said he couldn't see to fill out the form, but I would fill out the form and he would sign it. He would not sell Charles the gun."

Celia was livid and gave the salesperson a piece of her mind.

"Charles finally said, shut up Celia," she laughed.

However, Charles wasn't laughing.

"I was irritated, felt a little insulted. Here's another who needs to be educated," he said.

Charles calls it discrimination. 30 years ago, he was a member of the first committee to start the establishment of the Americans with Disabilities Act. All these years later, in this situation, anyone who could not read, for whatever reason, would have been denied the 2nd ammendment.

"These people, if they went in, you gotta read and fill out this paper. They would be discriminated against also," he said.

"I tried to get the man to say it was because he couldn't see, but he never would say that," Celia said. "There is no law that says because you are blind you can't have a gun."

Charlie was denied his right to buy the gun, but Celia ended up buying the gun and filling out the paperwork. She says it wasn't the issue of her buying the gun, but Charles' right being revoked.

"That wasn't the principle of the thing at all. I was not the one who wanted a gun registered to me," she said.

"I said, you got another person who doesn't know anything about blindness or blind people or the law," Charles said.

This rifle was not for Charles, but a gift for his granddaughter.

"I think people should be able to learn to use a weapon and have a weapon to defend themselves," he said.

Celia says her husband is proud and strong, but at the end of the day he's a man who has traveled the world, alone despite his disability, to prove being blind is not a total handicap. She says he earned the right to buy this gun.

"It has been denied this man. This man, who gave his sight for that right," she said.

There is no law saying a blind person can't buy or own a gun. There are people who cannot have guns, like criminals, the mentally unstable, etc., but blind is not one of the limits.

Charles has bought guns in the past, Celia says usually you bring two people. One to fill out form and another to verify he signed the paper.

Walmart employees told them it was their right to refuse to sell. WTOC contacted Walmart and they told us in a statement, they are looking into this situation and thanked us for bringing it to their attention.