Synagogue, DOJ challenge ban on concealed carry near houses of worship
August 6, 2026
The U.S. Department of Justice and an Orthodox Jewish synagogue are suing a Maryland county over a new law that bans carrying guns near places of worship, citing constitutional concerns and worries about the safety of congregants amid rising antisemitism.
The Christian Post reports that DOJ filed the lawsuit on Monday against Montgomery County, Maryland, over the newly enacted Expedited Bill 23-26.
The law prohibits people from carrying a gun within 100 yards of “a place of public assembly,” including places of worship, schools, parks, libraries, hospitals, recreational facilities and childcare centers.
The DOJ says the new law “violates the Second Amendment by prohibiting law-abiding citizens from possessing firearms in daily life,” adding that “Bill 23-26 prohibits carrying firearms at thousands of locations, and also creates an arbitrary 100-yard exclusion zone around each location.”
According to the Christian Post, the lawsuit asks a federal judge to block the county from enforcing the law’s unlawful provisions while the case proceeds.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said, “The Second Amendment does not allow local governments to ban law-abiding citizens from carrying firearms in public places as they go about their daily lives.”
Dhillon added, “Montgomery County makes it almost impossible for a law-abiding citizen with a valid carry license to walk down the street and avoid these exclusion zones. The Civil Rights Division will not stand idle while Montgomery County tramples the rights guaranteed to law-abiding citizens by the Second Amendment.”
Another lawsuit was filed Thursday in the same court by Silver Spring Jewish Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Rabbi J. Menashe Shapiro.
That complaint argues Expedited Bill 23-26 violates the Second Amendment, the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the First and Fourteenth Amendments, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Photo: top, Credit: Unsplash/Seetz