The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Montgomery County, Maryland, on Aug. 4, 2026, alleging that the county’s newly enacted Bill 23-26 violates the Second Amendment by effectively preventing law-abiding citizens from carrying firearms as they go about their daily lives.
According to the complaint, Bill 23-26 prohibits carrying firearms at thousands of locations and establishes a 100-yard exclusion zone around each one. The restrictions apply even to people who hold valid carry licenses and have property owners’ express permission.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said the Second Amendment does not permit local governments to prevent law-abiding citizens from carrying firearms in public places as they go about their daily lives. Dhillon said the county’s exclusion zones make it nearly impossible for a licensed carrier to walk down the street without violating the law and that the division would not stand by while the county infringes residents’ Second Amendment rights.
The Justice Department argues that the scope of the prohibition, particularly the 100-yard buffer, makes it practically impossible for individuals in the county to carry a firearm lawfully while conducting their daily business. The complaint contends that the ordinance violates the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Wolford v. Lopez, which held that a law barring firearms from places people routinely visit interferes with the Second Amendment right to carry arms for self-defense during daily life.
The Civil Rights Division’s Second Amendment Section enforces the Second Amendment, the Police Pattern or Practice Act and Executive Order 14206. The department invited current and prospective gun owners who believe a state or local government has infringed their right to keep or bear arms to submit a complaint through the section’s website.
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