Ohio House advances measure allowing firearm suppressors and short barreled rifles

Ohio House lawmakers approved a measure Tuesday eliminating long-standing restrictions on firearm suppressors and short-barreled rifles. Currently, gun owners who knowingly acquire either could be subject to a fifth-degree felony under state law.

Ohio Senate Bill 214 alters the definition of dangerous ordnance, which comes from the federal National Firearms Act. Under federal law it’s illegal to own dangerous ordnance like explosives and automatic rifles without registration.

But after the Trump administration eliminated the fee as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a Texas judge tossed the restrictions themselves. That ruling only applied to parties in the case, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives chose not to appeal. The agency later issued guidance stating it would no longer enforce the rules.

The problem, Ohio gun rights advocates contend, is that Ohio’s laws reflect the previous footing, under which owning a silencer or a short-barreled rifle constitutes a fifth-degree felony. And more to the point, Grant Balzer from Gun Owners of America told committee members, the path ahead for changing Ohio’s laws suddenly looks a bit less certain.

“Upcoming changes in our state government will likely make it far more difficult to secure the attention and votes needed to advance and finalize this legislation,” he said. “If this committee does not act before the session adjourns, these essential corrections could be delayed for months, if not years.”

The bill passed the state Senate 31-1 but it only addressed the issue of silencers. A last-minute committee amendment Tuesday added short-barreled rifles and shotguns to the bill.

The measure passed out of committee easily, but not without objections from Ohio state Rep. Darnell Brewer, D-Cleveland. Gun violence claims hundreds of lives a year, he said, holding up a sheet of paper with the pictures of nine different people.

“There’s just one bill that you guys are trying to push, but this same vigor is not given to the bills that will help save the lives of Ohioans,” he said. “I had a young man just literally get shot steps from my house — steps from my house. And we are here today talking about this bill. We need to save lives in Ohio.”

Before the proposal made its way to the floor, Republican House Speaker Matt Huffman said given the court rulings, “I don’t think (the penalties are) legal in the state of Ohio, or at least it’s not clear enough that they are.”

House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati, echoed his frustration before the measure went to the House floor, saying pushing measures like this and not priorities like affordability could be “why Republicans lost so badly last week.”

“So, what did they do one week after the people of Ohio said, ‘please do something different’? They come back with a culture war gun bill,” he said. “You have to be so out of touch, your head has to be so deep in the sand, to think that is what the people of Ohio want right now.”

Floor debate

Ohio state Reps. Tex Fischer, R-Boardman, and Kellie Deeter, R-Norwalk, co-sponsored an S.B. 214 companion bill and urged their colleagues to support the Senate proposal.

“This is a win for gun owners. This is a win for public safety advocates. This is in no way, shape, or form anything that is going to make Ohio streets less safe,” Fischer insisted.

Deeter said her district has a rich tradition of hunting and shooting sports.

“For many of my constituents, these are not abstract legal classifications,” she said. “They have practical implications for how they exercise their Second Amendment rights.”

Deeter argued suppressors don’t actually silence firearms, but by reducing sound, they can help protect gunowners’ hearing. She also criticized the way current definitions classify firearms. With a few accessories, Deeter said, a pistol can become a short-barreled rifle under federal definitions.

“Same ammunition, same firing mechanism, different legal classification,” she said.

Brewer was the only lawmaker to debate against the measure. He questioned the lawmakers’ priorities, and recited a handful of stalled bipartisan proposals aimed at improving gun safety, through education or tax breaks on safety devices.

“I am tired of watching the General Assembly find urgency for political battles while Ohio families are waiting for solutions,” he said, “Our children cannot wait.”

The proposal passed the House 68-27. Because of the changes in committee, the proposal now returns to the Ohio Senate.

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