Eric Baxter | X
By Bohemian Baltimore – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
Amid a nationwide rise in antisemitic violence, Maryland’s Montgomery County has banned synagogues from defending themselves with armed security consistent with their faith. Becket and @NCLAlegal have teamed up to stop this blatant violation of the First and Second Amendments.
Silver Spring Jewish Center (SSJC) is one of the oldest synagogues in Silver Spring, Maryland. Since the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel, SSJC has faced a growing number of security threats. In 2024, a visibly Jewish congregant was assaulted outside the synagogue, and more recently, an individual tried to break in overnight.
To keep its worshippers safe, SSJC has developed a comprehensive security plan that includes upgrades to its infrastructure, security protocol training, and an armed security team. Members of that team, including Rabbi Menashe Shapiro, seek to carry firearms to synagogue, consistent with their religious duty to protect their fellow Jews.
But this summer, Montgomery County passed a law banning firearms inside and within 100 yards of “place[s] of public assembly”—including houses of worship. For SSJC, the ban not only violates their 2A rights but also their religious freedom.
SSJC and Rabbi Shapiro believe that Jewish law requires them to be prepared to defend themselves and their community when necessary. They also believe that Talmudic and later religious sources command Jews to provide that security themselves, rather than outsourcing their safety to hired outsiders. Montgomery County has forbidden them from following this religious belief.
Worse, Montgomery County is targeting Jews for special disfavor. Restaurants, stores, and fraternal organizations remain free to decide whether to allow firearms on their property. But SSJC doesn’t have the same freedom.
If that weren’t enough, Montgomery County allows licensed gun owners to transport firearms through the 100-yard buffer zone in their cars but forbids Rabbi Shapiro and other members of SSJC’s security team from carrying one through that same zone on foot—even though their faith requires them to walk to synagogue on the Sabbath.
The synagogue and Rabbi Shapiro sued, and a federal district court blocked the firearms ban inside the synagogue—but inexplicably left the 100-yard restriction in place. That ruling created an obvious contradiction: Jews may protect themselves within the synagogue, but they cannot lawfully carry firearms through the doors to do so.
Montgomery County has a lot of chutzpah to trample on the First and Second Amendments at the same time. That’s why on Tuesday, @becketfund and @NCLAlegal filed an emergency motion asking the Fourth Circuit to end the perimeter ban so congregants can lawfully carry firearms on synagogue grounds. becketnewsite.s3.amazonaws.com/20261110161500
SSJC and Rabbi Shapiro shouldn’t have to choose between their faith and their safety. We’re confident the court will say so soon.
Maryland synagogue asks appeals court to end ban on armed synagogue security
Montgomery County bars Jewish community from protecting its congregation amid rising antisemitic violence
For Immediate Release: BecketFund.org | November 12, 2026
An Orthodox Jewish synagogue and a rabbi asked a federal appeals court on Tuesday to block a Maryland county law that prevents them from protecting their congregation with armed security. In Silver Spring Jewish Center v. Montgomery County, a county ordinance bans firearms inside and within 100 yards of houses of worship. Although a lower court partially blocked the ban, it left the 100-yard restriction in place—creating a bizarre constitutional catch-22 where Jews can carry firearms inside the synagogue, but they cannot cross the street to bring them there.
Silver Spring Jewish Center (SSJC) has faced growing security threats since the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel. In 2024, a visibly Jewish congregant was assaulted outside the building, and more recently, an individual tried to break into the synagogue overnight. To keep worshippers safe, SSJC developed a comprehensive security plan that includes upgrades to its infrastructure, security protocol training, and an armed security team. As a member of that team, Rabbi Menashe Shapiro seeks to carry a firearm to synagogue consistent with his religious duty to protect his family and his fellow Jews.
In July, Montgomery County banned the possession or transport of firearms inside—or within 100 yards of—a “place of public assembly,” sweeping in houses of worship. For SSJC and Rabbi Shapiro, the ban violates not only their Second Amendment rights but also their religious freedom. They believe that Jewish law requires them to be prepared to defend themselves and their community when necessary, and that Talmudic and later religious sources command Jews to provide that security themselves, rather than outsourcing their safety to hired outsiders.
After a federal district court recently blocked the county’s ban on firearms inside the synagogue but left the county’s 100-yard exclusion zone in place, Becket, the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), and Rabbi Shapiro have filed an emergency motion asking the Fourth Circuit to end the perimeter ban so congregants can lawfully carry firearms onto synagogue grounds.
Statements for media use:
Rabbi Yaakov Greiniman of Silver Spring Jewish Center:
“Our synagogue has long been a sanctuary for Jews to worship, pray, and gather in peace. As the scourge of antisemitic violence grows more widespread and brazen, we have a sacred duty to defend our congregation. Montgomery County has made that impossible.”
Rabbi Menashe Shapiro, congregant of Silver Spring Jewish Center:
“It takes a lot of chutzpah to trample on the First and Second Amendments at the same time. Yet that’s precisely what Montgomery County has done here, forcing Jews to choose between different tenets of their faith and simultaneously compromising their safety. Our Constitution forbids such impossible choices. I pray the court ends this senseless ban for good and allows my community to defend itself from threats.”
Eric Baxter, senior counsel at Becket and an attorney for the synagogue:
“Protecting synagogue members’ right to carry within their synagogue but prohibiting them from carrying to the entrance is no protection at all. We’re asking the Fourth Circuit to end this assault on Marylanders’ bedrock constitutional rights.”
Becket and the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) represent Silver Spring Jewish Center. Rabbi Menashe Shapiro represents himself.
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