Montgomery County, Maryland, is facing three lawsuits over its recently enacted gun law that restricts where firearms can be carried.
According to the county law, firearms can’t be carried within 100 yards of public spaces, including parks, schools and houses of worship.
During his weekly briefing with reporters, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said he couldn’t comment on pending litigation but reaffirmed his support for the law.
“I’ll reaffirm my support for any and all measures that we can take to reduce gun violence,” Elrich said. “Our job is to try to protect people. And gun legislation is important in accomplishing that.”
Asked about the U.S. Department of Justice’s legal challenge, Elrich said, “It’s really hard for me to reconcile the Constitution with the blanket, you know, ‘Anybody can have a gun, anywhere, any time’ kind of mentality. Because, you know, what the Constitution talks about is a well-regulated militia.”
Previous legal challenges to the county’s restriction on where firearms can be carried prompted the Montgomery County Council to revise the law.
Opponents of the original version pointed out that just driving through the county with a firearm — even if the car’s occupants had a license to carry — would put them in violation of the law.
But another lawsuit, filed by the Silver Spring Jewish Center, argues even with the changes, synagogue members who volunteer to provide security to the center could still violate the law.
Rabbi Menashe Shapiro, an ordained Orthodox rabbi, is a plaintiff in the center’s lawsuit against the county and said the law violates not only the Second Amendment but also their rights to freely exercise their religion.
“We allege that this is a violation of the free exercise clause — the ability to exercise our religion,” Shapiro said. “We assert that we have a belief, a sincerely held religious belief, to defend our community when necessary.”
Shapiro said the Jewish community had been at greater risk and subject to increased threats in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks in Israel.
“Right here, in Montgomery County, Maryland, Jewish communities have experienced a dramatic increase in antisemitic attacks,” he said. “We would like to continue to use a volunteer security team — of which I am a member — to defend the community.”
“We’re on site. We know the people. We know the space, and we’re all highly trained,” Shapiro told WTOP.
“Our job is to try to protect people, and gun legislation is important in accomplishing that,” Elrich said in discussing all three of the lawsuits Montgomery County faces.
Asked about the cost of defending against the legal challenges, Elrich said, “Nobody likes spending money unnecessarily, but we’re not going to know whether it’s unnecessary until we play this out in court.”
“I would rather fight and then surrender when I have to surrender if there’s a court decision than to prematurely surrender.”
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