Montgomery County faces federal lawsuit over rebuilt concealed carry ban

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What we know

Montgomery County is facing a federal lawsuit over its concealed carry ban. The ban had reportedly been rebuilt.

Patriot Watch first flagged this story 2 hr ago, when AmmoLand reported it. So far this remains a single-source report. The most recent report came 2 hr ago from AmmoLand. Verification tier: Watching — single-source — not yet independently corroborated.

⚖ The Constitutional Angle

Bruen held that the Second Amendment protects a right to carry handguns publicly for self-defense, and a restriction stands only if the government shows a historical tradition of comparable regulation. Wolford v. Lopez applied that framework and struck Hawaii's limit on licensed carry on private property open to the public. Montgomery County's ban must clear the same historical-tradition bar.

New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Kevin P. Bruen, Superintendent of New York State Police 597 U.S. 1 (2022)

Vote: 6-3 · Opinion: Thomas

New York's requirement that applicants demonstrate 'proper cause' — a special need for self-protection distinguishable from the general community — to obtain an unrestricted public-carry license violates the Fourteenth Amendment by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public. The Court held the Second Amendment protects a right to carry handguns publicly for self-defense, and rejected the two-step means-end framework lower courts had applied after Heller.

Jason Wolford v. Anne E. Lopez, Attorney General of Hawaii 609 U.S. ___ (2026) (slip op.); U.S. Reports page not yet assigned

Vote: 6-3 · Opinion: Alito

Hawaii's law (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 134-9.5(a) (2023)) prohibiting licensed concealed-carry permit holders from carrying handguns on private property open to the public without the owner's express authorization violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. The decision restores the common-law default: a person lawfully carrying enjoys the implied license to enter property held open to the public unless the owner withdraws consent — a State may not flip that default to require express permission.

Precedent facts from the PW Law Library — primary-source verified & independently audited