Even given the unconscionable history of gun control, the law banning concealed carry in and within 100 yards of houses of worship and other public assemblies in Montgomery County, Md., is particularly disturbing.
In this episode of the NRA The Armed Citizen Podcast, J. Menashe Shapiro, a law student helping the Silver Spring Jewish Center who is also a rabbi, was asked if the county’s attorneys were at least embarrassed about disarming, in this case, Jews at a time when antisemitism is so often raising its ugly head in the public square.
“In so many ways, the county attorneys have been pretty brazen during this case,” said Shapiro. “One example is they tried challenging our religious beliefs. They said, ‘You actually don’t have a religious belief that you should have firearms in a synagogue.’ Maybe, they say, you have a religious belief that you should provide for your security, but who said that has to be a firearm? The judge correctly noted in her order that in a long line of Supreme Court cases, you are not allowed to challenge the truth of a religious belief in court. And certainly, for a county plaintiff, right, a government agency to say, ‘No, you guys don’t really have that religious belief’ is particularly wild.”
Such absurd situations should not even be possible in, as our national anthem reminds us, the “land of the free and the home of the brave.”
The Silver Spring Jewish Center, specifically, has sued Montgomery County in federal court over Expedited Bill 23-26 (signed July 27, 2026). This anti-gun law basically bans possessing or carrying firearms (even by licensed permit holders) inside or within 100 yards of “places of public assembly,” and it explicitly includes houses of worship.
The county law does provide exceptions for law enforcement and licensed professional security guards. Shapiro talks about this part of the law in this interview and notes how expensive and problematic it is to guard against possible terrorist attacks with only professional security guards.
In this case, the Jewish center points out that the ban violates the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense; it violates the First Amendment free exercise of religion (they cite a sincerely held religious belief/tradition requiring self-defense of the community when needed, especially amid heightened antisemitic threats post-Oct. 7, 2023); and they argue that it violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause by discriminating on the basis of religion.
Indeed, this synagogue relies on a trained volunteer security team (including military veterans and the rabbi) rather than solely hiring professional guards, as is their right under the U.S. Constitution.
In this podcast interview, Shapiro talked about how often he, and other members of their security team, train at a local range so they can use their Second Amendment-protected freedom to defend themselves and other members of their community, as they know they must be their own first responders.
They have already had some legal success. A preliminary injunction recently forced the local government not to prosecute members of the Silver Spring Jewish Center who carry in the synagogue while the litigation continues. The court found plaintiffs likely to succeed on Second Amendment and free exercise claims. This injunction does not lift the 100-yard buffer zone (or apply broadly to other places of worship).
Shapiro also reached out to attorneys in the NRA Institute for Legislative Action and, in this podcast, he thanked the NRA for helping to show them precedents in this area of the law that have been helpful.
The U.S. Department of Justice also sued Montgomery County in early August over Bill 23-26. Indeed, so-called “gun-free” zones and overly broad “sensitive-place” restrictions have been used by the usual suspect list of anti-Second Amendment state and local legislatures to disarm law-abiding citizens in public places and many of those restrictions are currently being challenged in court by the NRA and others.
We’ll keep you posted as this ongoing civil-rights battle takes places in courtrooms across America.
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