A deep-blue suburb just outside the nations capital is facing a sharp constitutional rebuke from President Trumps Justice Department over its effort to bar law-abiding citizens from carrying firearms in houses of worship.
According to the Daily Caller, Democratic Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich on Monday signed Bill 23-26, a sweeping gun-control measure crafted after the Maryland Supreme Court in April struck down portions of the countys earlier firearms restrictions. The revised ordinance, among other provisions, forbids carrying firearms in churches, synagogues, mosques and other religious venues, even when those institutions expressly authorize congregants to be armed for self-defense.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon on Thursday released a letter from Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights R. Jonas Geissler, warning county leaders that the worship-ban provisions collide head-on with the Second Amendment. History teaches us that houses of worship are vulnerable to armed attacks and congregants are particularly in need of the ability to defend themselves, Geissler wrote, adding, By disarming religious congregants during worship, Montgomery County infringes on such congregants ability to defend against such attacks.
The Justice Departments letter pointed county officials to the United States Supreme Courts recent decision in Wolford v. Lopez, which struck down a Hawaii statute that attempted to wall off broad categories of public places from lawful carry. Hawaiis law was itself a reaction to the Courts landmark 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, which held that New Yorks may issue concealed-carry regime violated the Second Amendment by granting officials sweeping discretion to deny permits.
Montgomery Countys ordinance goes beyond houses of worship, also banning the carrying of firearms near schools and parks, continuing a pattern of expansive sensitive place designations that courts have increasingly scrutinized. Critics argue such measures do little to deter criminals while stripping responsible citizens of the means to protect themselves and their families.
Elrich did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation regarding the Justice Departments warning, leaving unanswered why county leaders insist on disarming congregants despite clear Supreme Court guidance. For many conservatives, the silence underscores how progressive jurisdictions often push the outer limits of gun restrictions until forced back by federal courts or, as here, by a Justice Department now more aligned with constitutional originalism.
The stakes are not theoretical, as recent history has shown that churches and other religious sites remain prime targets for violent attackers. High-profile assaults include the 2015 massacre of nine worshippers in a Charleston, South Carolina, church, a 2025 attack on a Mormon church in Grand Blanc, Michigan, a May assault on a San Diego mosque and the October 2018 mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.
In stark contrast to Montgomery Countys approach, many gun-rights advocates point to the December 2019 incident in Texas, where an armed parishioner swiftly stopped a shotgun-wielding assailant who had already killed a member of the churchs security team and a deacon. That episode has become a powerful example for conservatives of how an armed citizen can end a tragedy in seconds, rather than waiting helplessly for police.
The Justice Departments Civil Rights Division under President Trump has repeatedly taken the side of gun owners against aggressive state and local regulations that treat the Second Amendment as a second-class right. Its docket includes challenges to bans on modern semiautomatic firearms in Virginia, the District of Columbia and Denver, Colorado, a statewide magazine ban in Colorado and Californias prohibition on Glock pistols, signaling that Montgomery Countys ordinance may be only the latest liberal gun-control experiment to face a serious constitutional reckoning.
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