Ohio lawmakers voted Tuesday, November 10, to lift the state’s restrictions on firearm suppressors and short-barreled rifles and shotguns, sending Senate Bill 214 to Gov. Mike DeWine for his consideration. The Ohio House passed the bill 68-27 and the Ohio Senate concurred in the House amendments 21-9 the same day, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
The bill removes suppressors, short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns from Ohio’s list of “dangerous ordnances,” a category that also includes items such as grenades, rocket launchers and torpedoes, The Columbus Dispatch reported. It also eliminates state registration requirements that the federal government no longer enforces.
The change follows a federal shift. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced that individuals no longer have to wait for approval, register and pay a $200 tax on the items, and President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” eliminated the taxes on them effective January 1, according to The Columbus Dispatch. Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson had urged lawmakers to clarify Ohio’s firearm rules after the federal changes, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
Senate Bill 214 was introduced by Sen. Kyle Koehler, a Springfield Republican, and began as a suppressor-only measure before the House Public Safety Committee widened it to cover short-barreled firearms, according to the bill’s legislative history as reported by Sportsmen’s Alliance. Signal Ohio reported the votes ran mostly along party lines, with Republicans voting yes and all but a small handful of Democrats voting no.
The bill does not remove every requirement. Ohioans must still pass a background check and fill out the standard firearm purchasing form to buy a suppressor or a short-barreled firearm from a licensed dealer, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Knowingly acquiring or using dangerous ordnance without an exemption remains a fifth-degree felony for the items still on the list.
Supporters framed the vote as bringing Ohio law in line with federal law. “Passing SB 214 today aligns Ohio law with these federal developments and restores key Second Amendment protections for responsible citizens across our state,” a supporter said in a statement quoted by Signal Ohio.
What happens next is up to the governor. The bill heads to DeWine to sign or veto, and it is not law until he acts or it becomes law without his signature. If it takes effect, the earliest the change could apply is February 2027, according to the bill analysis reported by AmmoSight.
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