Ohio Sends SB 214 to DeWine, Dropping Suppressors and Short-Barreled Guns From Dangerous Ordnance on 68-27 and 21-9 Votes

The Ohio General Assembly sent Senate Bill 214 to Governor Mike DeWine on November 10, 2026, after the Senate voted 21 to 9 to concur in House amendments that strike firearm suppressors, short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns from the state’s definition of dangerous ordnance. The Senate’s vote record lists 21 Republicans in favor and nine Democrats opposed. Earlier the same day the House passed the amended bill 68 to 27, per the Cincinnati Enquirer’s account and Buckeye Firearms Association’s statement. The legislature’s vote page carried only the Senate roll calls on Tuesday evening, and the House tally stands on those two accounts until the House journal posts.

The substitute bill the House Public Safety Committee sent to the floor amends four sections of the Revised Code. In section 2923.11 it deletes “any firearm muffler or suppressor” from the dangerous ordnance list, deletes the definition of a sawed-off firearm, a shotgun with a barrel under 18 inches, a rifle with a barrel under 16 inches, or either under 26 inches overall, and strikes “or sawed-off” from the automatic-firearm clause and from the exclusion for sporting rifles and shotguns. In section 1533.04 it removes the condition that a hunter’s suppressor be registered under the National Firearms Act (NFA), and in section 2923.17 it deletes the exemption that covered only registered hunting suppressors. Knowingly acquiring, having, carrying or using dangerous ordnance without an exemption stays a fifth-degree felony under section 2923.17.

Senator Kyle Koehler, a Springfield Republican, introduced the bill on June 3, 2025 as a suppressor-only measure, the Senate’s status page shows. The Senate Armed Services, Veterans Affairs and Public Safety Committee reported it 5 to 0 on March 11, 2026, and the full Senate passed it 31 to 1 on March 25, with Senator Beth Liston the lone no. The House Public Safety Committee heard it on June 2 and June 9 and then let it sit until November 10, when it took a third hearing, adopted the amendment adding short-barreled rifles and shotguns and reported the substitute bill, the committee record shows. Buckeye Firearms Association puts the committee vote at 9 to 2.

The amendment followed testimony that morning from the Firearms Policy Coalition’s Todd Rathner and Gun Owners of America’s Grant Balzer. Balzer’s testimony says Ohio layered its own criminal restrictions on top of the federal rules in the 1970s, that federal registration was one of the principal exemptions, and that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) stopped enforcing those registration requirements nationwide on October 9 after the August 5 ruling in Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF, which the Justice Department did not appeal. Rathner’s testimony says an Ohioan “can now acquire one of these items lawfully under federal law and still be committing a crime under Ohio law,” and asked the committee to add short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns and any-other-weapons. The reported bill covers the first two and does not mention any-other-weapons. Both witnesses say Attorney General Andy Wilson wrote to the Senate president and House speaker on October 23 urging the General Assembly to fix the statute before the session ends. That letter is not posted on the attorney general’s site, and the Enquirer’s account confirms the request.

Koehler’s June 2 sponsor testimony to the House committee said the bill removes suppressors from a list that “contains items like nitroglycerin, rocket launchers, grenades, and torpedoes,” that he owns five suppressors himself, and that “Ohioans must still follow Federal Law when purchasing a suppressor,” including an instant background check. On the floor on November 10 he said, “It is a gun, and it should go through the same process that we go through today,” per the Enquirer. Representative Tex Fischer, a Boardman Republican, called the bill “a win for gun owners” and “a win for public safety advocates.” Representative Cecil Thomas, a Cincinnati Democrat, said in committee that suppressors differ from short-barreled firearms: “These are powerful weapons and their size makes them easier to conceal.” Representative Mark Sigrist, a Grove City Democrat, said in a statement that passing the bill “aligns Ohio law with these federal developments.”

Licensed hunters keep the right under section 1533.04 to use a suppressor on a gun authorized for hunting. The amended section simply drops the registration condition.

Under Article II, Section 16 of the Ohio Constitution, DeWine has 10 days, Sundays excepted, after the bill is presented to sign it or return it with objections, or it becomes law without his signature. Under Section 1c, a law takes effect 90 days after the governor files it with the secretary of state. The Senate’s status page showed no governor action as of the evening of November 10, 2026, and the earliest the change could take effect is February 2027.