A federal judge temporarily barred Montgomery County from enforcing its handgun restrictions against the Silver Spring Jewish Center on Sept. 10, just in time for Rosh Hashanah.

“I’m very pleased that the judge has granted our preliminary injunction, especially on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, as many Jews will gather in synagogue and ask, ‘Who will live and who will die?’” the plaintiff, Rabbi J. Menashe Shapiro, told JNS.

“We now have the ability to ensure the protection of our institution as we go into this critical time,” he said.

Rosh Hashanah began on Sept. 11 at night.

Deborah Chasanow, a senior judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, granted the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction in part. Her decision applies only to the Silver Spring Jewish Center, an Orthodox congregation in a heavily Jewish neighborhood, and not to other county synagogues.

The county law prohibits firearms within 100 yards of a place of public assembly, including a house of worship. The injunction does not block enforcement of the buffer around the synagogue.

The Jewish Center and Shapiro argued that the prohibition prevented licensed members of the congregation’s volunteer security team from carrying guns at the synagogue.

In a 72-page memo, Chasanow found that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their Second Amendment and free exercise claims. She determined that the county had not established a sufficiently widespread historical tradition of prohibiting firearms in houses of worship.

The judge also found that the law treats houses of worship differently from comparable private properties, whose owners can decide whether to permit guns.

JShield, The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s security arm, declined to comment on the matter.

Steve Birnbaum, the founder and CEO of the Jewish nonprofit Collective Threat Response Initiative, said he welcomed the federal court’s ruling.

“A synagogue should have the right to decide how to protect its own congregation, just like any other private establishment,” Birnbaum wrote in a statement to Washington Jewish Week. “We raised this with members of the County Council before the bill was signed. They chose not to act.

“The court recognized what we have always known: professionally trained security officers drawn from the communities they protect are an asset, not a liability. They know the congregants, understand the environment, and are invested in the outcome because it is their community too.”

Birnbaum emphasized the effectiveness of the community-based model, which CTRI employs.

“But this ruling applies to only one congregation,” he added. “Every other synagogue in Montgomery County remains subject to this law today … The threat to the broader community has not been resolved.

“CTRI’s inaugural cohort of Guardians, drawn from the congregations they protect, just graduated our rigorous training program. They are now ready to protect the synagogues and Jewish institutions of this region. This law still casts a shadow over their ability to do so in Montgomery County. We remain hopeful that the county will act now, rather than wait for the courts to finish what they have clearly started.”

Moco Halts Criminal Enforcement of Gun Ban Near Houses of Worship

This development comes two days after it was announced that county police wouldn’t issue criminal citations for violations of a new firearms law barring the carrying of guns in or within 100 yards of houses of worship while litigation challenging the matter is pending.

The county’s filing came in a lawsuit brought by the Silver Spring Jewish Center and congregants who argue that the law, signed by County Executive Marc Elrich on July 27, prevents volunteers from carrying firearms to protect their synagogue. Synagogue security volunteers previously told JNS that they continued carrying guns despite the ban.

“The county passed a law their own prosecutor thinks is probably unconstitutional and certainly dangerous,” Shapiro told JNS. “Although they have, for now, instructed the police not to criminally enforce the ban, they reserve the right to pursue lawful gun owners for civil violations. We hope the court will intervene soon to provide full relief from any prosecution.”

The Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office has agreed to defer criminal prosecutions, and county police “will not issue criminal citations” under the disputed provisions “until full and final resolution of this matter,” according to the filing. The commitment applies to anyone, whether or not they are a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

The county stopped short of promising that it would issue no civil citations. It told the court that such enforcement is unlikely and that the “only conceivable form of enforcement” in the interim would be “a civil citation and monetary fine.” The maximum fine is $500.

The county also argued that similar firearms restrictions are already in place in several other Maryland jurisdictions. The Silver Spring Jewish Center disputed that claim in a response Sept. 8, arguing that Prince George’s County restricts loaded firearms, Charles County’s cited provision applies only to air guns, and Gaithersburg and Takoma Park exempt licensed permit holders.

The law, Expedited Bill 23-26, took effect after Elrich signed it on July 27. It bars carrying firearms in or within 100 yards of designated “places of public assembly,” including houses of worship, schools, parks, libraries and polling places.

Zoe Bell contributed reporting to this article.