HB 614 PASSES: Ohio CHLs extended to June 30, 2021

House Bill 614, with an amendment to extend Concealed Handgun License (CHL) expiration dates, today unanimously passed the Ohio Senate and passed the Ohio House 87-2, and now goes to the Governor to sign into law.

BFA's amendment to HB 614 extends all CHL expiration dates through at least June 30, 2021. In addition, if a license expires between April 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021, the license is further extended an additional 90 days past the expiration date of that license.

The amendment also removes the contiguous county requirement during the time of Ohio's "emergency order" related to the COVID virus. So a licensee may renew at ANY sheriff office in Ohio. The law ordinarily restricts applications and renewals to a person's home county and adjacent counties.

As we have previously reported ...

Buckeye Firearms Association (BFA) has been working directly with the Ohio legislature to address the alarming logjam of people struggling to get their Concealed Handgun License (CHL) applications and renewals processed at county sheriff offices around the state.

The backlog was first caused by COVID 19 related shutdowns earlier in 2020, but has been greatly exacerbated by record-setting interest by people seeking a CHL license in the wake of rioting and unrest across the country, including in Ohio. BFA members have reported waits as long as 9 months to get scheduled for a CHL appointment.

Back in March of this year, BFA passed a bill with an extension of CHL expiration dates. However, the problem has persisted with the growing backlog of license applications.

BFA has been working on this issue tirelessly since March of this year, and has been in meetings over the last three weeks with both Senate and House leaders to solve the problem.

"BFA is thankful to both Senate President Obhof and Speaker Cupp for working with BFA on a solution to this problem," said BFA Executive Director Dean Rieck. "Without quick action by the legislature, thousands of gun owners would be unable to get the CHL they badly need during these trying times. And worse, those with expiring licenses would be unable to carry concealed."