The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms joined in an amicus brief to the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals supporting a lawsuit against Montgomery County, Maryland, challenging county “sensitive places” designations.
Joining CCRKBA are the California Rifle and Pistol Association, Second Amendment Law Center, Second Amendment Defense and Education Coalition, Guns Save Life, Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois, Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners of California, and the Gun Owners Foundation. They are represented by attorneys C.D. Michel and Anna M. Barvir at Michel & Associates of Long Beach, Calif. The case is known as Maryland Shall Issue, Inc. v. Montgomery County.
“Like other jurisdictions did in the aftermath of the 2022 Supreme Court ruling in Bruen, Montgomery County is trying to dance around the high court’s intent by classifying ‘sensitive places’ as just about all public venues,” noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “In this case, the county has gone to extreme lengths by creating ‘sensitive zones’ which extend out 100 yards in all directions from so-called ‘places of public assembly,’ which neither follows the spirit nor the letter of the Bruen ruling.
“The result is essentially a ban on carrying firearms outside of the home,” he added. “The county is trying to prohibit people from exercising their right to bear arms. Like other gun control laws, this one is misguided because people with carry licenses or permits are actually among the most law-abiding group in the nation, yet Montgomery County wants to penalize them for exercising their rights guaranteed under the Constitution.”
Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is currently involved in federal litigation challenging Maryland’s ban on so-called “assault weapons.”
After the Supreme Court last year granted certiorari in that case, it was remanded back down to the appeals court for further review in line with guidelines set down in the Bruen ruling.
“State and local anti-gun governments are trying to be too clever by half when they adopt far-reaching ‘sensitive places’ designations,” Gottlieb said. “Such restrictions are supposed to be very narrow in scope, not the kind of wide-ranging areas with hundred-yard buffer zones thrown in. We’re delighted to be part of this amicus submission because this sort of nonsense has to stop.”
With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (www.ccrkba.org) is one of the nation’s premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.
