The U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday, Aug. 4, challenging Montgomery County's week-old gun-carry law, arguing the restrictions covering parks, schools, libraries and houses of worship across Potomac violate the Second Amendment.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, names the county, the Montgomery County Police Department, the Sheriff's Office and Sheriff Maxwell C. Uy as defendants. The DOJ is seeking an injunction to block enforcement of Expedited Bill 23-26, which County Executive Marc Elrich signed July 27 and which took effect immediately.

"Montgomery County makes it almost impossible for a law-abiding citizen with a valid carry license to walk down the street and avoid these exclusion zones," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.

The complaint invokes 34 U.S.C. § 12601, the federal police-misconduct statute typically used in excessive-force investigations, arguing that officers who enforce the law are engaging in a pattern of depriving residents of constitutional rights.

What the law does

Bill 23-26 bars firearms within 100 yards of schools, parks, libraries, polling places, houses of worship, recreational facilities, courthouses and legislative assemblies. The Montgomery County Council passed the measure 10-1 on July 21, with Councilmember Laurie-Anne Sayles (D-At-large) casting the lone dissent.

According to the DOJ complaint, county records show 605 houses of worship, 693 public parks, 42 recreation centers and 10 colleges covered by the law, totaling more than 7,900 acres and at least 10,000 parcels. That amounts to over 26 percent of the county's land area before the 100-yard buffers are added.

The complaint argues the buffers create "invisible lines" that could make a gun owner a criminal in their own backyard if their home sits within 100 yards of a park.

County response

A Montgomery County spokeswoman told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the county "does not comment on pending litigation." County lawmakers separately said they are reviewing the DOJ's legal challenge. Neither Elrich's office nor bill sponsor Councilmember Dawn Luedtke (D-Dist. 7) has responded publicly to the federal suit.

At the July 27 signing ceremony, county officials cited more than 600 shooting incidents and more than 3,000 firearms seized countywide between 2023 and 2025. Luedtke said at the time that the bill "does not add new prohibitions on firearms" but corrects existing county law to conform to a Maryland Supreme Court ruling.

Third federal challenge in two weeks

The DOJ suit is the third federal legal challenge to Bill 23-26 in less than two weeks. Maryland Shall Issue and five carry-permit holders filed Barreto v. Montgomery County, and the Silver Spring Jewish Center and Rabbi J. Menashe Shapiro filed a separate suit July 30 alleging the law violates the First, Second and Fourteenth Amendments.

Shapiro's lawsuit notes his route from home to synagogue passes within 100 yards of two public schools, two private schools, two parks and three other houses of worship. The Anti-Defamation League recorded 121 antisemitic incidents in Montgomery County in 2025.

The DOJ grounds its challenge in the Supreme Court's June 2026 ruling in Wolford v. Lopez, which struck down Hawaii's ban on carrying firearms on private property open to the public. The complaint also challenges the Fourth Circuit's ruling in Kipke v. Moore, which upheld firearm restrictions in parks.

No hearing date has been set for the DOJ case. A status conference in the separate state-court case, Engage Armament LLC v. Montgomery County, is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 12, at Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville.