Maryland synagogue challenges county ban on firearms in houses of worship

The Silver Spring Jewish Center and Rabbi J. Menashe Shapiro filed suit Thursday in federal court against Montgomery County, County Executive Marc Elrich, Police Chief Marc Yamada, and State's Attorney John McCarthy over Expedited Bill 23-26.

The ordinance, signed into law by Elrich on Monday, prohibits individuals from carrying firearms "in or within 100 yards of a place of public assembly," including houses of worship, schools, parks, libraries, hospitals, and government buildings. While the law permits licensed paid security personnel to carry firearms in those locations, it bars volunteer security teams and private citizens from doing so.

The lawsuit argues the restrictions undermine the synagogue's ability to protect its members amid heightened concerns over antisemitic violence following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel.

Shapiro, who serves on the synagogue's security committee, said the ordinance would dismantle the congregation's existing security preparations. "It is important that we be able to protect ourselves," Shapiro told JNS. "Especially since Oct. 7, but as recent as last month, we've faced threats. This law makes it impossible to be prepared."

According to the complaint, the synagogue organized an armed volunteer security team after the October 7 attacks. The filing also references an October 2024 assault on a visibly Jewish congregant outside the synagogue and an incident on June 9 in which an unknown individual allegedly attempted to enter the building.

The synagogue's concerns come amid a massive spike in antisemitic violence. According to the Anti-Defamation League's 2025 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, the organization recorded 6,274 antisemitic incidents nationwide last year, an average of roughly 17 per day. While total incidents declined from the record-setting levels seen in 2023 and 2024, physical assaults reached the highest level since the ADL began tracking such data in 1979, with 203 assaults, including 32 involving deadly weapons. The report also documented the first antisemitic murders of Jewish Americans since 2019.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University reported that 2025 saw the highest number of Jews killed in antisemitic attacks worldwide in three decades, underscoring growing concerns among Jewish communities about their physical security.

Shapiro said the legal challenge focuses on both the prohibition against carrying firearms inside houses of worship and the law's expansive 100-yard buffer zone. "Our lawsuit specifically challenges two things: the ban on carrying in houses of worship and the 100-yard perimeter," Shapiro told JNS, adding that the ordinance "also violates our religious beliefs."

He argued, "Jewish law requires Jews to provide for their own security, and that means carrying firearms when necessary. I wish it weren't necessary, but it is and we must."

Shapiro also said the 100-yard restriction would make it virtually impossible for some residents to legally travel while carrying a firearm. "As a personal example, in order for me to get from my house to the synagogue at which I usually daven, I pass within 100 yards of two public schools, one private school, two parks and three other houses of worship," he said.

"Members of the Jewish community pleaded with them that this presented a fundamental threat to our safety, but it fell on deaf ears," Shapiro told JNS. "Now we turn to the courts for relief."

The synagogue is represented by the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), which is seeking a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction preventing the county from enforcing the law while the case proceeds.

Mark Chenoweth, the organization's president and chief legal officer, argued the ordinance infringes on both constitutional and religious rights. "It boggles the mind in the current antisemitic climate that the county would deny a synagogue the ability to defend worshippers as it sees fit," Chenoweth said. "Such interference in the internal management of a place of worship violates the First Amendment, too."

Jack Leeb, a police psychologist who teaches firearm safety courses within the local Jewish community, told JNS, "There is no reason whatsoever to restrict the ability to carry a firearm, especially in houses of worship, other than to control the population.”

He added, "The issue of Second Amendment rights is a constant struggle between those who would have us believe that we are safe because the government says we are, and the reality that there is evil all around us, including, potentially, in every government composed of human beings.”

The legal battle escalated Thursday when the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division sent a formal letter to Montgomery County warning that the federal government would file suit if the ordinance is enforced against houses of worship.

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In the letter, Deputy Assistant Attorney General R. Jonah Geissler argued that the ordinance violates both the Second and First Amendments because it prohibits licensed firearm owners from carrying weapons inside places of worship even with the express permission of the property owner.

The DOJ cited the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen and noted that the Court recently struck down a similar Hawaii law restricting firearms on privately owned property open to the public. The department further argued there is no historical tradition supporting a blanket prohibition on firearms inside houses of worship where the property owner permits them.

The letter also contends the ordinance singles out religious institutions in a manner that violates the First Amendment by imposing restrictions not applied to comparable secular gatherings. "History teaches us that houses of worship are vulnerable to armed attacks and congregants are particularly in need of the ability to defend themselves," Geissler wrote. "By disarming religious congregants during worship, Montgomery County infringes on such congregants' ability to defend against such attacks."

The Justice Department demanded written confirmation by noon EDT on July 31 that Montgomery County would not enforce the law against houses of worship that permit firearms. If county officials refuse, Geissler warned, "we will file a lawsuit without further notice."