Between Montgomery County’s status as Maryland’s most populous county and its location bordering Washington, D.C., there are obvious security threats that officials and residents must consider.
For a synagogue, that address in 2026 unfortunately means that worshipers must be prepared for anything. So, when county officials enacted a law late last month denying congregants the most effective means of self-defense, the institution responded with legal action.
Proof of the need for armed self-defense is readily available
The Silver Springs Jewish Center, along with the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), sued the county for restricting worshipers’ ability to possess firearms to defend themselves and the synagogue.
It’s not like members conjured up a threat that does not exist.
“The ban could not come at a worse time for Montgomery County’s Jewish community,” the plaintiffs declared. “Just a short time after the firebombing in Boulder, the arson attack on Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s (D) residence, and–close to home–the shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum, Montgomery County seeks to deprive Jews of their ability to defend themselves at their most Jewish moment: praying in synagogues.”
County officials should support the community’s efforts to protect themselves
The lawsuit then noted that while the community must defend itself from violence based on its religious beliefs, misguided county officials instead declared “open season.”
The new law criminalizes even concealed carry permit holders having weapons within 100 yards of a public assembly. Those who attack the faithful do not care one whit about such restrictions, but law-abiding members are virtually defenseless to counter a violent attack.
Fox News Digital spoke with NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel Jacob Huebert about the outpouring of support the challenge enjoys from the faithful.
“This is, you might say, blown up on Jewish media channels and various sources,” Huebert said. “People are highly interested. And unfortunately, they perceive the real threat that this bill from Montgomery County poses. We’ve received overwhelmingly positive feedback from this as people recognize how outrageous it is to disarm religious people who face actual credible threats and need to exercise their right to self-defense.”
The county is already in the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) crosshairs over its sprawling concealed carry ban.
The federal government sued Montgomery County, the Montgomery County Police Department, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, and Sheriff Maxwell C. Uy.
The lawsuit goes beyond what would have been imaginable only a short time ago. The DOJ charged that officials who enforce the prohibition are violating fundamental civil liberties.
This makes law enforcement culpable for denying Second Amendment rights through enforcing the unconstitutional law.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon harshly condemned disarming high-risk targets. “History teaches us that houses of worship are vulnerable to armed attacks and congregants are particularly in need of the ability to defend themselves. By disarming religious congregants during worship, Montgomery County infringes on such congregants’ ability to defend against such attacks.”
County government officials recently responded to the Maryland Supreme Court’s ruling that its gun control regime is unconstitutional.
Instead of abiding by the Constitution and the court, politicians trotted out a slightly modified scheme that still left vast overlapping swaths of “gun-free” zones that gutted the right to keep and bear arms.
Consider Wolford v. Lopez.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that Hawaii’s ban on concealed carry holders possessing weapons on private property open to the public without expressed permission from the owner is unconstitutional.
This ruling should have served notice to Montgomery County and other gun rights outliers that sweeping bans will not withstand judicial scrutiny.
With houses of worship off limits to lawful carry, the Jewish Center and other potential targets are sitting ducks for those with a political or theological axe to grind. The current dangerous situation is Exhibit A for defending the right to keep and bear arms, and officials know this.
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