Maryland County’s Gun Ban Buffer Leaves Orthodox Synagogue’s Armed Guards Unable to Walk to Sabbath Services

Silver Spring Jewish Center and Rabbi J. Menashe Shapiro have asked the Fourth Circuit to stop Montgomery County from enforcing a ban on firearms within 100 yards of any “place of public assembly” while congregants walk between their homes and the synagogue, according to a new court filing. The synagogue is represented by the New Civil Liberties Alliance and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and Shapiro is representing himself. The filing, filed on Tuesday, warns that “each Sabbath that passes without relief inflicts irreparable harm.”

The county law, Expedited Bill 23-26, was enacted July 27. It prohibits possessing or carrying guns in or within 100 yards of parks, schools, libraries, government buildings, polling places, and houses of worship. Under a court order, congregants may carry inside the synagogue, but they cannot legally walk there armed on the Sabbath. The filing says permit holders may still drive handguns through the same zones, while Orthodox Jews, who do not drive on the Sabbath, must walk. According to the filing, the only route between Shapiro’s home and the synagogue passes within 100 yards of four schools, two parks, and three other houses of worship.

The synagogue, one of Maryland’s oldest Orthodox congregations, says threats have grown since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. The filing describes an October 2024 incident in which a Jewish member was attacked just outside the building, and a June 2026 incident in which 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 states that this practice is partly a religious duty, as Talmudic and later religious sources command Jews to provide their own security. Armed volunteers guarding worshippers reflects a concern for the vulnerable (Psalm 82:3).

In September, Senior U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow ruled that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in challenging the ban inside houses of worship. She blocked the ban only for handguns and only inside the synagogue itself, and left the 100-yard rule in place, ruling that the plaintiffs had not shown it was unconstitutional in every application. As a result, the filing says, the buffer “prohibits members from even approaching the synagogue while armed.”

The lawyers also challenge the county’s justification for the buffer zone under the Supreme Court’s Bruen test, which requires gun laws to match the nation’s historical tradition. The county cited an 1837 Maryland wild fowl law, which barred guns near a hunting blind only “with intent to shoot or molest any wild fowl,” and an 1859 Connecticut law, which the filing says “regulated the sale of liquor, not firearms.” The filing also notes 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 without addressing the county’s statement.

The suit says a licensed driver “may idle or park beside a school or house of worship as long as he likes,” while a congregant on foot cannot walk past. Gun owners may 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 described it as one of several commonsense measures against gun violence.

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