An Orthodox synagogue in Maryland is trapped in a court-created conundrum.
Worshipers at the Silver Spring Jewish Center are free to legally carry firearms for self-defense when they gather in the building to protect themselves. The catch is that they cannot lawfully be armed when they walk there, as required on Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
The choice is stark. To transport a weapon to the synagogue legally, they must break a religious obligation. On Tuesday, a judge refused to bend on the arbitrary gun restriction that effectively disarms the faithful.
Judge ignores actual public safety while upholding arbitrary restriction
Synagogue attorney Jacob Huebert, also senior litigation counsel at the New Civil Liberties Alliance, told JNS that other faiths do not have the walking requirement.
That means the law banning firearms within 100 yards of a place of public assembly unless they are in their vehicles does not affect them.
“But since these people have to walk, they’re not able to fulfill their religious obligation to defend themselves and other members of the synagogue,” Huebert explained. “If you’re walking to the synagogue with your family, and you’re out and about, you have the same obligation and at least as much need, because you’re out in public.”
Congregants may be forced to take stronger legal action
Attacks on Jewish worshipers and institutions are well chronicled, but U.S. District Judge Deborah Chasanow of the District of Maryland brushed that concern aside last week. She denied the synagogue’s request to work around Montgomery County’s “gun-free” zones surrounding such facilities.
A simple court order to stop authorities from enforcing the “buffer zone” would have sufficed. The synagogue could be faithful to its religious edicts and follow the law while protecting itself from very real threats.
Instead, congregants must choose. Permitting firearms in the house of worship is a start, but danger does not magically appear when entering the front door.
Such nitpicking laws appease the anti-gun crowd but impede actual public safety. And a judge turned away the opportunity to uphold self-defense rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
The Silver Spring situation deserves another look and a better outcome.
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