'We're still carrying,' Maryland synagogue security volunteers say, defying county gun ban

An Orthodox Jewish security volunteer in Silver Spring, Md., told JNS that he brought his gun to synagogue on Saturday as usual, despite a new Montgomery County ordinance barring guns within 100 yards of houses of worship and other designated places of public assembly.

“I’d rather be judged by 12 than carried by six,” the volunteer said, of facing a jury rather than being killed and then carried in a coffin.

“We are still carrying,” the man, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told JNS. “That remains true, despite Montgomery County’s best efforts.”

Degan Bartels, public information officer for the Montgomery County Police Department, told JNS that officers will “enforce this the same way as every other law.”

“If someone calls 911 or they call the non-emergency with a complaint, that’s how it’s handled,” Bartels told JNS. “But we’re not going to be actively checking people when they’re going into church or synagogue.”

The Jewish volunteer in Silver Spring told JNS that one person opted not to bring his gun to synagogue on Saturday.

“I don’t know if that will be true this week, as well,” the volunteer said.

The ordinance, which Marc Elrich, county executive, signed on July 27, prohibits firearms in or within 100 yards of houses of worship.

The U.S. Department of Justice sued the county on Monday and filed 11 declarations from residents, who attend religious services and want to carry firearms for protection. The declarations state that the county “has left us defenseless against armed attackers.”

The federal government’s case is one of three lawsuits challenging the ordinance. The Silver Spring Jewish Center sued on July 30, and the nonprofit Maryland Shall Issue filed a separate 44-page complaint the day Elrich signed the ordinance.

The security volunteer told JNS that a judge said during a conference with plaintiffs, which he attended, that the Jewish Center’s lawsuit isn’t timely or urgent.

“We vehemently disagree with them that this is neither urgent or timely,” he said. “We think it is both.”

The volunteer told JNS that keeping Jews safe is a very urgent and timely concern since Jew-hatred has surged after Oct. 7.

Another Orthodox security volunteer, who spoke to JNS anonymously, said that he brought his gun to a different synagogue and informed the off-duty police officer, which the congregation hires, that he was carrying a weapon.

“The officer knew I had it, because I’m not comfortable with him not knowing I had it,” the volunteer told JNS. “He was fine with it.”

He said that he heard rumors that police officers in the county won’t be enforcing the ordinance.

The second volunteer only knows of one person in his synagogue who did not carry his gun as usual.

“He did not want to take the risk,” the volunteer told JNS. “He didn’t want anybody to say he’s not abiding by the law.”

The second volunteer told JNS that his parents, who are Holocaust survivors, didn’t like when he got a gun, but “they were more upset, because they understood that we’re living in a time that people feel they need to have it.”

“It only continues to get worse and worse,” he said. “There are these violent acts of antisemitism all over the place. We’re vulnerable. These laws don’t enable us to really protect ourselves and our communities under these circumstances.”

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