Jewish advocates fear MD public carry ban disarms synagogues
The article discusses a notable legal case in Montgomery County, Maryland, which highlights the complex relationship between rising antisemitism adn gun restrictions. Montgomery County, Maryland’s most populous area with the largest Jewish community, has experienced a significant portion of the state’s antisemitic incidents. In response to increased threats and incidents, the county passed a law banning the carrying of licensed firearms within 100 yards of “public places of assembly,” including synagogues. This law has sparked protests from Jewish communities and legal challenges, notably from the Silver Spring Jewish Center and the Department of Justice, arguing it effectively disarms synagogues and impedes self-defense rights protected by the Second Amendment.
The synagogue and its supporters contend that the law restricts their ability to provide internal security, which they have historically managed through volunteer members with firearms permits. They argue that the law’s restrictions make it difficult for congregants to carry weapons during walks to synagogues, especially on the Sabbath, increasing security concerns amid rising antisemitism. Critics also highlight that the law prevents synagogues from maintaining their volunteer security teams and that the restrictions have broader implications for religious freedom and safety.
The legal case is ongoing, with delays due to local officials’ stalling and judicial questions about the timing of the lawsuit. The backdrop for this controversy includes a heightened concern over antisemitic violence following recent attacks and the general rise in antisemitic incidents in Maryland, despite some recent declines. The community is increasingly interested in emigration to israel for safety, reflecting deep fears about local security. the situation underscores the tension between gun regulations aimed at reducing violence and the imperative for vulnerable communities to protect themselves amid escalating antisemitism.
A historic legal case in Maryland’s largest county is shining the spotlight on a rare intersection between rising antisemitism and gun restrictions.
Montgomery County is Maryland’s most populous county and holds the largest Jewish population in the state. It is also where roughly two-thirds of all antisemitic incidents take place in Maryland, which ranks ninth nationally for antisemitic reports.
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That triggered the perfect setup for a clash in July, when the county passed a law criminalizing the carrying of a licensed firearm in or within 100 yards of “a place of public assembly,” which includes synagogues. The new regulation sparked uproar from critics who expressed concern that it has effectively disarmed synagogues in an era and area where Rabbi Menashe Shapiro says members are grappling with intensifying antisemitism.
Along with the Department of Justice, the Silver Spring Jewish Center is now suing to block the law, with Shapiro, one of its affiliated rabbis, telling the Washington Examiner that Montgomery County is the “only place” in the United States where a house of worship is not allowed to have its members or its staff carry inside the building. The synagogue believes it has a strong case, hoping precedent is on its side due to the Supreme Court’s Wolford v. Lopez ruling in June, which Second Amendment advocates viewed as a decisive victory for the public carrying of licensed firearms.
“This is pretty rare because most governments — state, county, local, city — doesn’t matter, most governments, even in the United States, even if they’re very really anti-gun … I think they recognize that houses of worship are sacrosanct, and they can, they should set their own rules, and they can set their own rules, and we don’t want to disarm them,” Shapiro said during an interview, noting that several other synagogues in the area have expressed interest in joining the lawsuit.
The new law allows for outside licensed security personnel to carry firearms to protect the synagogues and other places of public assembly where guns are otherwise banned. The regulation would not allow synagogues to keep their internal volunteer security teams in place, which promises to have sweeping repercussions for the community.
“They could pay someone to do that, but they could not pay someone to do it to the same extent that is to provide security to the same extent that their volunteer member security team does, because that would be prohibitively expensive,” New Civil Liberties Alliance senior litigation counsel Jacob Huebert, who is representing the synagogue, said. “This synagogue is open every day from early in the morning until rather late at night, and they would need a guard for all of that time. Also, it’s their belief that under Jewish law it is better for them to provide for their own defense rather than outsource that to other people, and the law prevents them from doing that, and that’s part of our First Amendment claim.”
Prior to the July passage of the law, the Silver Spring Jewish Center and synagogues provided security through volunteer members of their congregations who held weapons permits from the state or a bodyguard licensure card.
“I’m not aware of a single Orthodox community in our neighborhood that does not have a volunteer security committee,” Shapiro said.
“What is interesting, or what people might not realize, is that it means that we have more firearms experience or training than most police officers because after their initial qualification, they usually only have to go to the range every six months,” he added. “The volunteer team…most of us probably are at firearm ranges or other gun trainings every two weeks.”
Proponents of the law believe it is aimed at protecting people from gun violence.
“I’ll reaffirm my support for any and all measures that we can take to reduce gun violence,” Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said earlier this month. “Our job is to try to protect people. And gun legislation is important in accomplishing that.”
“It’s really hard for me to reconcile the Constitution with the blanket, you know, ‘Anybody can have a gun, anywhere, any time’ kind of mentality. Because, you know, what the Constitution talks about is a well-regulated militia,” he added.
But critics contend that it poses a special danger to the Jewish community due to its prohibition on firearms within 100 yards of a place of public assembly. People can carry a firearm in their car at that distance, but not if they are walking. For observant Montgomery County Jews, who must walk to synagogues on their Sabbath, that would essentially prohibit them from carrying a weapon to defend themselves while navigating to worship, as they would most likely be passing by parks, schools, churches, libraries, and other qualifying places of “public assembly.”
“It makes it impossible to get to any of the houses of worship without violating that 100-yard barrier,” Shapiro said. “Just for my own personal walk, my backyard is a school, so as soon as I walk out of the house, I’m within 100 yards of a school. But I pass in front of two public schools, two private schools, two parks, and three other houses of worship before I get to my own synagogue.”
Progress in advancing the case has been slow because Montgomery County officials have stalled the process and the judge involved does not view a resolution as urgent, according to Shapiro. The judge questioned why plaintiffs waited until now to sue, when the initial version of the law was passed in 2021, he said.
Shapiro argued that it wasn’t until there was a “sea change” in attitudes toward the Jewish community in the area following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that there was a real need for more protection, as antisemitic incidents “spiked.” The original law was then tossed out in November 2023, dissolving the need for a lawsuit at the time, but was revitalized in the latest regulation that the county passed in July, he said.
The law sparked controversy as synagogues in the county raised concerns that antisemitism has risen in the area. Last year, a member of the Silver Spring Jewish Center was attacked with a cane by an “unstable” person and taken to the hospital, Shapiro said, putting the congregation on edge. This year, an intruder attempted to get into the synagogue early in the morning.
Overall, antisemitic incidents in Maryland plummeted last year, compared to 2024. But incidents remain at record highs compared to the start of the decade, appearing to mark a lingering escalation in antisemitism. In 2025, Maryland saw 181 antisemitic incidents, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents. The number is a steep drop from 356 in 2024, but a surge from 20 incidents in 2019.
As concerns rise, Shapiro said he’s noticed an increasing interest in “Aliyah,” the process in which Jews immigrate to Israel.
“I just saw an email in our communal, like the Montgomery County Jews neighborhood email list, and they were asking if anybody had gone through the Aliyah process, meaning to get Israeli citizenship without any current or imminent intention to leave—they just want the safety of having the second passport,” he said. “I don’t think we would have had that discussion, or people would have been talking about that before October seventh. Which is ironic, of course, because they’re talking about fleeing to effectively a war zone.”
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