COLUMBUS — The Ohio General Assembly has sent Senate Bill 214 to Gov. Mike DeWine, a measure that would remove firearm suppressors and sawed-off firearms from Ohio’s statutory list of “dangerous ordnance.” The Lake Erie Inquiry reported that the legislature finished the bill on November 10, with the House passing its version 69-27 and the Senate agreeing to the House changes the same day; the Senate concurrence vote was 21-9.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Kyle Koehler, amends sections 1533.04, 2923.11, 2923.12 and 2923.17 of the Ohio Revised Code to take firearm mufflers and suppressors and sawed-off firearms out of the dangerous-ordnance classification, according to the bill’s official title as reported by the Lake Erie Inquiry. Other items on that list — including automatic firearms and explosive devices — are not affected by the bill.
Senate Bill 214 is not law. Passage by the legislature sends the measure to the governor, and Ohio law does not change unless and until the bill becomes law through the governor’s action or the constitutional process that follows presentment. Until then, suppressors and sawed-off firearms remain classified as dangerous ordnance under current Ohio law.
The measure drew support from lawmakers across the state, including northwest Ohio cosponsors Sen. Theresa Gavarone and Reps. Gary Click, Haraz Ghanbari, Roy Klopfenstein, Ty Mathews and Josh Williams, the Lake Erie Inquiry reported.
The bill’s path widened as it moved. It began as a suppressor-focused measure and, in its final form, covers sawed-off firearms as well — a change made in the House version that the Senate accepted in its November 10 concurrence, according to the Lake Erie Inquiry’s account of the bill’s status and action dates.
Federal rules are a separate layer, and the Lake Erie Inquiry’s reporting noted the federal backdrop its sources tracked — a Federal Register change in May and an ATF open letter in October on federal enforcement — while the bill itself changes only Ohio’s classification. Nothing in Senate Bill 214, on its own, changes federal law.
What happens next is the governor’s decision. DeWine can sign Senate Bill 214, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature under the Ohio Constitution’s presentment rules. Watch for the governor’s action — and, if the bill becomes law, an effective date months after filing, since the measure carries no emergency clause.
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