Maryland County Looks to Revamp Carry Laws After Court Smacks Down ‘Gun-Free’ Highways

Montgomery County, Maryland lawmakers are going back to the drawing board after the state Supreme Court recently ruled many of its “gun-free zones” violate the Second Amendment. Instead of erring on the side of the Constitution, though, it looks like county councilmembers are instead aiming to keep their carry laws as restrictive as possible. 

In its decision handed down late last month, Maryland’s top court struck down the portion of the county’s Bruen response bill that made it illegal to carry within 100 yards of a “public assembly,” including anyone traveling on a highway in Montgomery County. The county has several major thoroughfares that are used as commuter corridors for folks who work in and around Washington, D.C., and establishing “gun-free zones” that included highways like I-270 and the Capitol Beltway were designed to make it virtually impossible to carry almost anywhere in Montgomery County.

Montgomery County Councilmember Dawn Luedtke’s proposal would revise that provision, but the county’s expansive definition of what constitutes a “public assembly” where lawful concealed carry is banned would still impose significant burdens on gun owners and those with Maryland carry permits. 

The bill would redefine a “place of public assembly” as a park, place of worship, school, library, recreational facility, multipurpose exhibition facility, polling place, courthouse or legislative assembly. The revised definition would also include a building that is “generally open to the public for the business of government,” according to a council staff report. 

Finally, Luedtke’s bill would add an exemption for “the possession of a handgun by a person who has a permit to carry the handgun under State law while the person travels on public highways within 100 yards of a place of public assembly” — another issue that came up in the state Supreme Court’s opinion. 

The county might be able to get away with banning guns at some of these locations, but I think officials are just inviting more litigation by defining places of public assembly so broadly. Multiple courts, for instance, have struck down prohibitions on lawful concealed carry in houses of worship. It’s one thing to say that worship leaders can ban the practice if they choose, but depriving church officials of the ability to decide for themselves whether they want to have armed parishioners is a regulation that has no real analogue in the nation’s history and tradition of gun ownership. 

Luedtke’s revised ordinance also touches on another aspect of Montgomery County law struck down by the Maryland Supreme Court; its ban on home-built firearms. The new proposal declares that an unserialized firearm can be rendered legal to possess if a federally licensed firearms dealer adds a serial number in accordance with Maryland state law. 

Gun owners will have a chance to weigh in on Luedtke’s proposal at a public hearing on June 9. I’m sure the folks at Maryland Shall Issue, which challenged the ordinances struck down by the state Supreme Court, will be looking over the proposed changes and will point out any legal issues before the county council holds a vote. Whether or not council members will listen is another story, but after the county was slapped by the Maryland Supreme Court, these politicians would be smart to pay attention to the concerns of Second Amendment advocates… at least if they want to avoid another expensive legal battle that ends with them on the losing side of a court decision. 

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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