Legislative and Legal Accomplishments

2002

• House Bill 274 (Concealed Carry) is passed by the Ohio General Assembly but vetoed by Gov. Bob Taft.

2004

• House Bill 12 (Concealed Carry) is passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Bob Taft. Sheriffs begin accepting concealed handgun license applications.

2006

• House Bill 367 (Protect Sportsmens' Dollars) is passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Bob Taft, reinstating a policy previously vetoed by Taft, which ensures the license fees for hunting, trapping and fishing are used for conservation efforts, not swindled off for other general expenses.
• House Bill 296 (Apprentice Hunting and Trapping Licenses) is passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Bob Taft. The law, only the second of its kind in the nation and the first to include trapping, is designed to make it easier to introduce new hunters and trappers into the sports. It delays the requirements to complete the hunter or trapper education course by providing for a new hunter or trapper (the apprentice) to participate in the sport under the immediate direction of a mentor.
• House Bill 347 (Statewide Preemption & Concealed Carry Reform) is passed by the General Assembly. After Gov. Bob Taft vetoes the bill, the General Assembly returns to override the governor's veto, and the bill becomes law. The new law makes firearms laws uniform throughout the state by preempting local gun control laws that are more strict than Ohio state law. It also removes the "plain sight" restriction of carrying in an automobile.
• House Bill 9 (Modify Media Access Loophole) is passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Bob Taft. The bill contains language which seeks to prevent journalist access to entire lists of concealed handgun license-holders, which had previously been possible due to the Media Access Loophole Taft forced into the 2004 concealed carry law.

2008

• Buckeye Firearms Foundation files brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case D.C. v Heller. The United States Supreme Court later rules the right to bear arms is an individual right, not a collective or state right.
• Senate Bill 209 (Mobility-Impaired Hunting Access) is passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Ted Strickland. The bill creates access to public hunting grounds for mobility-impaired hunters.
• Senate Bill 184 (Castle Doctrine & Concealed Carry Reform) is passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Ted Strickland. Under the ‘Castle Doctrine’ provision, if someone breaks into an occupied home or temporary habitation, or an occupied car, the owner has an initial presumption that they may act in self defense. Also included in SB184 are several pro-gun provisions that make Ohio's concealed carry laws more “user friendly." Among these revisions include important clarifications for persons without a Concealed Handgun License (CHL) to legally transport firearms in an automobile, and pick up/drop off abilities for license holders in school safety zones. The bill also designates mandatory legal fees for gun owners who require court orders to have firearms returned to them, decriminalizes concealed carry in privately owned parking garages, allows permit holders to carry a firearm in an unlocked glove compartment or center console and removes the written test requirement for renewal of a concealed handgun license.
• House Bill 450 (Armed Services 18-21 gun rights restoration & Concealed Carry Reform) is passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Ted Strickland. The bill lifts a state law which banned members of the armed services or the Ohio National Guard who are under 21 and have received firearms training from purchasing or possessing a handgun. The bill also clarifies the residency criterion for the concealed handgun license (CHL), and also clarifies that any previously issued CHL that has not been revoked is prima-facie evidence that a licensee at one time had a competency certification.

2009

• Buckeye Firearms Foundation sues City of Cleveland to stop enforcement of unconstitutional gun laws.
• House Bill 1, the two year budget adopted by the Ohio General Assembly, contains language which restructures fees sheriffs charge for new and renewed CHLs and corrects a en-bloc/stripper clip mistake in definition of loaded firearm fixes contained in SB 184.
• Buckeye Firearms Foundation files brief in McDonald v. Chicago U.S. Supreme Court case.

2010

• The United States Supreme Court rules on McDonald v. Chicago, finding that the individual Second Amendment rights recognized in D.C. v. Heller applies to the states and cities.

2011

• Senate Bill 17 (Restaurant & Car Carry Rules Fix) and House Bill 54 (Restoration of Rights) are passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. John Kasich.
• In the case of Buckeye Firearms Foundation, Inc. v. City of Cleveland, the Cuyahoga County Court strikes down the City of Cleveland's scheme of restrictive gun laws still on the books despite Ohio law, which clearly prohibits such municipal gun ordinances.

2012

• House Bill 495 (Concealed Carry Modernization) is passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. John Kasich. The bill Eliminates the "demonstrated competency" requirement for second and future CHL renewals, making CHL training similar to a hunting license. It also fixes the definition of a "loaded gun" to match the commonly accepted definition and allows law-abiding gun owners to have their firearms stored in their cars in the state-owned parking garages such as the one under the Statehouse.

2014

• House Bill 234 (Allow Noise Suppressors While Hunting & Concealed Carry Reform) is passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. John Kasich. The new law allows the use of suppressors while hunting, aligns concealed carry with laws for firearm possession, corrects the definition for automatic firearms, reduces the number of hours of training required to obtain a concealed handgun license (CHL) and much more.

2015

• House Bill 64, the two year budget adopted by the Ohio General Assembly, contains language which entirely closes removes the media access loophole (MAL), a provision which gave journalists a special exemption to access the confidential information of concealed handgun license (CHL) holders.

2016

• Senate Bill 199 (Active Duty Armed Forces Concealed Carry/ Handgun Transfer & Concealed Carry Reform) is passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. John Kasich. The new law makes a number of improvements to Ohio law, including expanding the number of places where Ohioans are allowed to exercise their Constitutional right to self-defense, and preventing employers from disallowing employees from keeping firearms locked in their personal vehicles on company property.

2018

• Buckeye Firearms Foundation, along with Ohioans for Concealed Carry, filed suit to challenge the City Cincinnati's new ban on the possession of "trigger activators" (devices including "bump stocks" and "binary triggers", citing the ordinance as a clear violation of Ohio Revised Code 9.68, commonly referred to as "preemption."
• Senate Bill 81 (Free CCW Licenses for Military Members) is passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. John Kasich.
• House Bill 228 (Fix Burden of Proof & Concealed Carry Modernization) is passed by the General Assembly. After Gov. John Kasich vetoes the bill, the General Assembly returns to override the governor's veto, and the bill becomes law. The new law shifts the burden of proof back to the prosecutor so that you are innocent until proven guilty, strengthens "preemption" provisions in Ohio law that prevent local governments from passing their own gun laws, aligns the definition of "shotgun" to mirror Federal law to end the confusion about the Mossberg Shockwave and similar firearms that are currently legal under federal law but illegal under Ohio state law, eliminates the requirement to post no-gun signs in locations which have authorized the carrying of firearms, and puts teeth into the law so that authorities can prosecute criminals who make "straw" purchases for felons.

2019

• House Bill 86 (Shockwave Drafting Error Fix) is passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Mike DeWine. The bill corrects a drafting error by the Legislative Services Commission (LSC) in the passed version of HB 228 at the end of 2018 by clarifying contradictory language on firearms, specifically what is and what is not “dangerous ordnance.”

2020

• House Bill 197, containing language which extends expired Concealed Handgun Licenses during the pandemic shutdown, is passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Mike DeWine.
• House Bill 614, containing language which extends expired Concealed Handgun Licenses during the ongoing pandemic, is passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Mike DeWine. The bill also removes the contiguous county requirement during the time of Ohio's "emergency order" related to the COVID virus.
• Senate Bill 175 (Repeal Duty to Retreat) is passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Mike DeWine. The new law repeals Ohio's duty to retreat law that forced victims of violent crime to retreat before they were legally able to defend themselves. It also also grants immunity to non-profit organizations from litigation in the event an act of gun violence takes place on their premises.

2021

• The Ohio Supreme Court handed Buckeye Firearms Foundation a victory in BFF v. Cincinnati, a nearly three-year old case concerning Cincinnati's "bump stock" ban. As a result, the City of Cincinnati is no longer permitted to enforce its ordinance, which attempted to make the possession of "trigger activators" (devices including "bump stocks" and "binary triggers") illegal within city limits.
• House Bill 110, the state budget bill for fiscal year 2022-2023, revises the cost of multiyear hunting licenses, should bring the wildlife division an additional $14 million in needed revenue during a 10-year span. Also in the budget is $29 million earmarked for the purchase of 18,000 acres of additional land formerly part of the AEP ReCreation Lands, which stretched across parts of Morgan, Noble and Muskingum counties. The land acquisition will give Ohioans some 60,000 contiguous acres of public access on which to camp, hike, hunt and fish. The two budget items are results of a lobbying campaign begun in 2017.
• Senate Bill 140 (Knife Law Reform) is signed into law, repealing the ban on the manufacture and sale of "switchblade," "spring blade" and "gravity" knives, and clearing up the confusion about carrying knives by defining a knife, razor or cutting instrument as a "deadly weapon" or "weapon" ONLY if it is used as a weapon.

2022

• House Bill 99 (Armed Teachers) is passed by the General Assembly and signed into law. The bill returns authority over school security programs to local school boards, including programs which allow teachers and staff to be armed.
• Senate Bill 156 (Knife Law Preemption) is passed by the General Assembly and signed into law. The bill gives knives the same "preemption" protection currently enjoyed by firearms, preventing a patchwork of local laws across the state.
• Senate Bill 215 (Permitless Carry) is passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Mike DeWine. The new law makes several important changes to Ohio's concealed carry laws: 1) Obtaining a concealed handgun license will become optional, so if you are able to legally carry a concealed handgun with a license, you will also be able to carry without a license. The same rights and responsibilities apply in either case. 2) You will no longer have the duty to "promptly" notify every law enforcement officer during an official stop. Instead, you must disclose that you are carrying a concealed handgun only when an officer asks, unless you have already notified another officer. 3) If you choose to obtain a concealed handgun license, you will no longer be required to carry the license on your person.
• SB 185 (Limit Government Power During Emergencies) is amended into SB 16 and signed by the Governor. The most comprehensive bill of its kind in the U.S., this law prevents state and local governments from infringing on Second Amendment rights during declared emergencies.