Justice Department sues Montgomery County, in Maryland, for banning firearms in synagogues

The prohibited locations encompass “at least 10,000 parcels comprising over 7,900 acres,” or more than 26% of the county, before accounting for the buffer zones, according to the filing.

By Jessica Russak-Hoffman, JNS

The U.S. Justice Department sued Montgomery County, Md., on Monday, asking a federal court to block the enforcement of new restrictions on carrying firearms in and around synagogues.

The lawsuit follows a Justice Department warning on Friday that the county should refrain from enforcing the ordinance against religious congregants or face a legal challenge.

Jacob Huebert, an attorney for the Silver Spring Jewish Center, which is suing the county, told JNS that the synagogue is “pleased that the Justice Department is joining us in the fight against this unconstitutional ban.”

Expedited Bill 23-26, signed on July 27, prohibits firearms in or within 100 yards of houses of worship, parks, schools, libraries, and other “places of public assembly,” exempting law-enforcement officers and hired security guards.

The Justice Department said the ordinance’s “prohibitions effectively prevent the carrying of firearms throughout much of the county without a legitimate purpose.”

The government stated in court filings that “as a practical matter, the enormous scope of the Exclusion Zone makes it almost impossible for a citizen to walk through town to shop, to dine, or to engage in any other common activity of daily life without likely entering the Exclusion Zone multiple times in a single trip and, thereby, becoming a criminal.”

The prohibited locations encompass “at least 10,000 parcels comprising over 7,900 acres,” or more than 26% of the county, before accounting for the buffer zones, according to the filing.

“The ban on firearms in places of worship, where the place of worship welcomes firearms, places a uniquely unsupportable burden on the right to bear arms,” the Justice Department stated in the filing.

“If there is any place where people are entitled to feel safe and to defend themselves, it is at a place of worship.”

The lawsuit accuses county law enforcement agencies of engaging in practices that violate the Second Amendment and requests preliminary and permanent injunctions barring enforcement of the provisions.

“I hope we win,” Jack Leeb, a police psychologist who conducts gun-safety courses in the local Jewish community, told JNS. “I’m sure the socialists here in Montgomery County will come up with some other way to infringe on our rights. It’s what they do.”