Maryland Synagogue Sues Over 100-Yard Gun Ban Near Worship Sites as DOJ Threatens Action
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 4
Maryland Synagogue Sues Over 100-Yard Gun Ban Near Worship Sites as DOJ Threatens Action
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 4
Summary
Silver Spring Jewish Center and Rabbi J. Menashe Shapiro sued Montgomery County days after it enacted a July 27 law barring firearms within 100 yards of places of worship and other public assemblies.
The suit, filed by the New Civil Liberties Alliance, argues the restriction violates the First, Second and Fourteenth Amendments and leaves Jews unable to defend themselves amid recent antisemitic attacks.
Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department's assistant attorney general for civil rights, backed the challenge and warned DOJ would act if the county did not halt enforcement.
Montgomery County initially declined comment on the litigation, while Council President Natali Fani-González defended the measure as a longstanding worship-site weapons ban updated to comply with a Maryland court ruling.