A Wild Gun Ban Loophole Leaves Jewish Congregation Vulnerable To Antisemitic Threats

A Maryland county’s sweeping gun ban has left an Orthodox synagogue’s armed guards unable to protect their congregation on the way to Sabbath and holiday services, according to a new court filing. Under a court order, they can carry inside the synagogue, but they can’t legally walk there armed on the Sabbath.

On Tuesday, Silver Spring Jewish Center and Rabbi J. Menashe Shapiro asked the Fourth Circuit to stop Montgomery County from enforcing its ban on firearms within 100 yards of any “place of public assembly” while they walk between home and synagogue. The synagogue is represented by the New Civil Liberties Alliance and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Shapiro is representing himself.

“Each Sabbath that passes without relief inflicts irreparable harm,” the filing warns.

The law, Expedited Bill 23-26, was enacted July 27. It bars anyone from possessing or carrying guns in or within 100 yards of parks, schools, libraries, government buildings, polling places, and houses of worship.

Here’s the catch: Permit holders can still drive their handguns through those same zones. Orthodox Jews can’t drive on the Sabbath, so they have to walk. According to the filing, the only route between Shapiro’s home and the synagogue takes him within 100 yards of four schools, two parks and three other houses of worship.

The synagogue is one of Maryland’s oldest Orthodox synagogues. It says threats have grown since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. In October 2024, a Jewish member was attacked just outside the building. In June 2026, an unknown person tried to get inside. 

The synagogue relies on an armed volunteer security team, and every member is licensed to carry under Maryland law. The suit says that’s partly a religious duty, as Talmudic and later religious sources command Jews to proactively provide their own security.

In September, Senior U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow ruled that the plaintiffs were likely to win their challenge to the ban inside houses of worship. She blocked it, but only for handguns and only inside their own synagogue. She left the 100-yard rule in place, ruling that the plaintiffs had not shown it was unconstitutional in every application.

That left congregants allowed to carry inside the synagogue but unable to legally carry a gun to the front door. The filing says the buffer “prohibits members from even approaching the synagogue while armed.”

The lawyers also take aim at the county’s argument to justify the buffer zone. Under the Supreme Court’s Bruen test, gun laws must match the nation’s historical tradition. The county offered historical precedents, such as an 1837 Maryland wild fowl law, which barred guns near a hunting blind only “with intent to shoot or molest any wild fowl.” Another was an 1859 Connecticut law, which the filing notes “regulated the sale of liquor, not firearms.”

The filing points out that the county told the lower court it did “not oppose Plaintiffs’ request for preliminary injunctive relief as to the Buffer Zone specifically surrounding SSJC.” The judge denied that relief anyway, without addressing the county’s concession.

According to the filing, a licensed driver “may idle or park beside a school or house of worship as long as he likes,” but a congregant on foot can’t walk past. Gun owners can also walk armed past fraternal lodges, stores and restaurants, none of which are covered. The suit adds that Baltimore, Gaithersburg, Takoma Park and the federal school-zone law all exempt permit holders.

The county opposes the motion. Backers of the law, including Councilmember Natali Fani-González, have called it one of several commonsense measures against gun violence.