“Dangerous ordnance” includes any automatic or sawed-off firearm, a “zip-gun,” any “firearm… designed and manufactured for military purposes, and the ammunition for that weapon,” a firearm suppressor, and “any combination of parts that is intended by the owner for use in converting any firearm or other device into a dangerous ordnance.” The law exempts several types of weapons. Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.11(K), exemptions at subs. (L). 

A “zip gun” means (1) any firearm of crude and extemporized manufacture; (2) any device, including without limitation a starter’s pistol, that is not designed as a firearm, but that is specially adapted for use as a firearm; and (3) any industrial tool, signaling device, or safety device, that is not designed as a firearm, but that as designed is capable of use as such, when possessed, carried, or used as a firearm. Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.11(G).

A “sawed-off firearm” is defined as a shotgun with a barrel less than 18 inches long, or a rifle with a barrel less than 16 inches long, or a shotgun or rifle less than 26 inches long overall, but does not include any firearm with an overall length of at least 26 inches that is approved for sale by the BATFE under the Gun Control Act of 1968, but that is found by the bureau not to be regulated under the National Firearms Act. Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.11(G).  

Ohio law exempts from “dangerous ordinance” all the things listed at Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.11(L), including any firearm (regardless of its actual age) that employs a percussion cap or other obsolete ignition system, or that is designed and safe for use only with black powder; any pistol, rifle, or shotgun, designed or suitable for sporting purposes, including a military weapon as issued or as modified, and the ammunition for that weapon, unless the firearm is an automatic or sawed-off firearm. 

With limited exceptions, state law prohibits any person from knowingly having, acquiring, carrying, or using any dangerous ordnance, Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.17(A), but this exempts owners of dangerous ordnance registered in the NFA registration and transfer record; persons who own a suppressor in compliance with federal law that is attached to a gun that is authorized to be used for hunting by state hunting law, and others. See Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.17(C) for all exceptions.

Specifically, Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.13 bars those under indictment for or convicted of a felony “offense of violence” or felony offense involving the illegal possession, use, sale, administration, distribution, or trafficking in any drug of abuse (including any adjudication for such crimes as a juvenile); anyone with a drug dependency, in danger of drug dependence, or who is a chronic alcoholic; anyone under adjudication of mental incompetence, or committed to a mental institution, or who has been found by a court to be a person with a mental illness subject to court order, or who is an involuntary patient other than one who is a patient only for purposes of observation, from acquiring, having, carrying or using a firearm or dangerous ordnance. This does not apply to those who have had the firearm disability removed and rights restored under operation of law or through legal process. “Offense of violence” is defined at Ohio Rev. Code § 2901.01(A)(9).

A separate law, Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.131, prohibits a person under detention at a detention facility from possessing a deadly weapon.

It is a crime to carry or use a firearm while intoxicated due to alcohol or a drug of abuse; Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.15.

Minors: Ohio has no minimum age for the possession of firearms, but Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.211 establishes age-based restrictions on minors purchasing or attempting to purchase a firearm. No person under 18 may purchase or attempt to purchase a firearm, and no one under 21 may purchase or attempt to purchase a handgun, although the handgun ban doesn’t apply to individuals aged at least 18 who are either law enforcement officers, or active or reserve member of the armed forces or the Ohio national guard, or former but honorably discharged members.

Permitless carry: Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.111 allows a “qualifying adult” to carry a handgun (other than a “restricted firearm”) concealed without a license. “Qualifying adult” means a person at least 21 years old, who is not legally prohibited from possessing or receiving a firearm under specified federal or state law and who satisfies the listed criteria that is otherwise necessary to obtain a concealed handgun license, being (D)(1)(a) to (j), (m), (p), (q), and (s) of Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125 (these generally prohibit anyone who has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to the listed criminal offenses, including certain adjudications as a juvenile; anyone committed to any mental institution, under adjudication of mental incompetence, found by a court to be a person with a mental illness subject to court order, or an involuntary patient; those currently subject to a civil protection order or a temporary protection order; those whose carry license is subject to suspension in Ohio or elsewhere; anyone discharged from the armed forces of the United States under dishonorable conditions, and others). A “restricted firearm” is a firearm that is “dangerous ordnance” or a firearm that any law of Ohio prohibits the person from possessing, having, or carrying.

Military Carry: An active-duty member of the armed forces of the United States who is carrying a valid military ID and documentation of successful completion of firearms training that meets or exceeds the training requirements described in § 2923.125 (G)(1) has the same right to carry a concealed handgun as a person who was issued a concealed handgun license. Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.126(E)(2). Other special rules on carrying without a license for law enforcement, retired law enforcement and other professionals are found in § 2923.126(E).

Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.111(C)(1)(c) generally states that if the Revised Code provision in specified circumstances requires a concealed handgun licensee to engage in specified conduct, or prohibits a concealed handgun licensee from engaging in specified conduct, the provision shall be construed as applying in the same circumstances to a person who is a qualifying adult in the same manner as if the person was a concealed handgun licensee.

Concealed Handgun Licenses: Ohio is a “shall issue” jurisdiction. In addition to standard carry licenses, state law authorizes the issuance of a license on a “temporary emergency basis” under Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.1213 (see Special Provisions, below).

Issuing agency/official: Sheriff of the county in which the applicant resides or the sheriff of any county adjacent to the county in which the applicant resides

Minimum age: 21

State residency required: No; non-residents who are employed in Ohio are eligible to apply with proof of in-state employment

Objective disqualifications: State law disqualifies applicants under 21; those not legally living in the United States; fugitives from justice; those convicted of, under indictment for or otherwise charged with a felony or specified offenses involving the illegal possession, use, sale, administration, or distribution of or trafficking in a drug of abuse, a misdemeanor offense of violence, negligent assault, or a crime of possessing a false, revoked or suspended carry license, or convicted of any other crime that is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year. There are other disqualifying convictions that time-out or expire unless they date to within ten years, five years, or three years prior to the date of the application; see Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(D)(1)(e) to (h). Other disqualifications are persons committed to any mental institution or otherwise under adjudication of mental incompetence or mental illness; anyone subject to an active civil protection order or a temporary protection order, whether in Ohio or not; anyone whose carry license is currently under suspension; unlawful users of or addicted to any controlled substance; those discharged from the armed forces of the United States under dishonorable conditions; anyone who has renounced their United States citizenship; and anyone convicted of domestic violence.

Non-objective disqualifications: None

Training /Familiarity requirement: Applicants must provide a competency certification within the three years immediately preceding the application that shows completion of a training class or program of at least 8 hours (including 2 hours of in-person training that consists of range time and live-fire training) and that otherwise meets the curriculum requirements in Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(G) and (B). For active/reserve members of the armed forces, those retired from or honorably discharged from military service, and retired law enforcement officers, the training element may be met through experience with handling handguns or other firearms, if equivalent to training that the applicant could have acquired in a qualifying course, class, or program. Applicants must certify that they have read the pamphlet prepared by the Ohio peace officer training commission on firearms, dispute resolution, and use of deadly force matters.

Fingerprints required: Yes

Maximum processing time: 45 days

Fees: For the initial license: applicants who have been Ohio residents for at least five years, $67; applicants resident for less than five years or who are non-residents employed in Ohio pay $67 plus the actual cost of the NICS background check. Sheriffs must waive the fees for applicants who are active/reserve or honorably discharged members of the U.S. armed forces, and certain retired peace officers

Duration of permit: Five years. The license of a licensee who is no longer a resident of Ohio or no longer employed in Ohio remains valid until the date of expiration on the license, and the licensee is prohibited from renewing the concealed handgun license.

Mandatory notifications: Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.12 requires that licensees stopped for law enforcement purposes must inform the officer they are carrying concealed “before or at the time a law enforcement officer asks if the person is carrying a concealed handgun,” unless the licensee has already notified another officer of that fact during the same stop. This does not apply if the firearm transported in a vehicle is not on the licensee’s person.

A licensee must give notice of any change in the licensee’s residence address to the sheriff who issued the license within 45 days after that change; § 2923.126(A).

Temporary Emergency Licenses: A person aged at least 21 and lawfully present in the United states may apply to the sheriff of the county in which the person resides or, if the person usually resides in another state, to the sheriff of the county in which the person is temporarily staying, by providing (a) evidence of imminent danger to the person or a member of the person’s family, (b) a sworn affidavit indicating that the person is otherwise eligible for a license, (c) fingerprints; and (d) a fee of $15 plus the cost of the background check (the fee may be waived for applying retired law enforcement officers). There is no training requirement. This license, if issued, is valid for 90 days and may not be renewed, and the applicant cannot apply for another temporary emergency license until at least 4 years have expired since the first license was issued. Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.1213.

Non-resident carry. Ohio’s permitless carry law applies to non-residents of the state who meet the “qualifying adult” requirements. Ohio extends reciprocity to all other states’ resident and non-resident carry permits or licenses. Under Ohio’s concealed handgun license law, non-residents who are employed in Ohio are eligible to apply for an Ohio license. 

Ohio’s concealed carry licensing law states that a person who is absent from the United States in compliance with military or naval orders as an active or reserve member of the armed forces is not, solely by reason of that absence, considered to have lost the person’s status as living in the United States for the purposes of license eligibility. Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.12 (D)(1)(a).

Places where carrying is prohibited.  Note that Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.111(C)(1)(c) generally states that if the Revised Code provision in specified circumstances requires a concealed handgun licensee to engage in specified conduct, or prohibits a concealed handgun licensee from engaging in specified conduct, the provision shall be construed as applying in the same circumstances to a person who is a qualifying adult on permitless carry in the same manner as if the person was a concealed handgun licensee.

Carrying concealed is prohibited in or at:  

A place in which federal law prohibits the carrying of handguns,

A police station, sheriff’s office, or state highway patrol station, premises controlled by the bureau of criminal identification and investigation; a state correctional institution, jail, workhouse, or other detention facility;

Any area of an airport passenger terminal that is beyond a passenger or property screening checkpoint or to which access is restricted through security measures by the airport authority or a public agency;

A state institution that is maintained, operated, managed by the department of behavioral health for the care and treatment of persons with mental illnesses, or the department of developmental disabilities for the care, treatment, and training of persons with intellectual disabilities;

A school safety zone, if the carrying violates what is permitted in § 2923.122. A “school safety zone” means a school, school building, school premises, school activity, and school bus, where “school activity” means any activity held under the auspices of a board of education, school district, a governing authority of a community school or an educational service center. A “school” includes everything up to the property boundary;

A courthouse or another building or structure in which a courtroom is located, if the carrying the is in violation of § 2923.123;

Any premises owned or leased by any public or private college, university, or other institution of higher education, unless the handgun is in a locked motor vehicle or the licensee is in the immediate process of placing the handgun in a locked motor vehicle or unless the licensee is carrying the concealed handgun pursuant to a written policy, rule, or other authorization that is adopted by the institution’s board of trustees or other governing body and that authorizes specific individuals or classes of individuals to carry a concealed handgun on the premises;

Any church, synagogue, mosque, or other place of worship, unless the church, synagogue, mosque, or other place of worship posts or permits otherwise;

Any Ohio state or political subdivision’s government building facility, other than a building used primarily as a shelter, restroom, parking facility for motor vehicles, or rest facility and is not a courthouse or other building or structure in which a courtroom is located, unless the governing body with authority over the building has enacted a statute, ordinance, or policy that permits a licensee to carry a concealed handgun into the building;

Licensed Class D liquor permit premises or open-air arenas, if the concealed carry licensee is consuming beer or intoxicating liquor or is under the influence of alcohol or a drug of abuse (Class D permits are generally issued to an establishment that sells alcohol for consumption on the premises);

Property that is owned or leased by a private entity and posted to prohibit persons from carrying firearms or concealed firearms on or onto the property, although a landlord may not prohibit or restrict a tenant who is a licensee, or the tenant’s guest while the tenant is present, from lawfully carrying or possessing a handgun on residential premises covered by the rental agreement between the tenant and landlord. Signs posted to prohibit firearms must comply with § 2923.1212.  

It is a crime to carry a firearm while intoxicated due to alcohol or a drug of abuse; Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.15.

Ohio Rev. Code § 9.68(A) begins by recognizing the individual right to keep and bear arms as a “fundamental individual right that predates the United States Constitution and Ohio Constitution,” that is “a constitutionally protected right in every part of Ohio.” The general assembly “also finds and declares that it is proper for law-abiding people to protect themselves, their families, and others from intruders and attackers without fear of prosecution or civil action for acting in defense of themselves or others.”

The exceptions to the preemption law are two kinds of zoning ordinances; Ohio Rev. Code § 9.68(D).

Remedies for any persons affected by a violation of the preemption law: state law allows any person, group or entity that is adversely affected by any manner of ordinance, rule, regulation, resolution, practice, or other action enacted or enforced by a political subdivision in conflict with the preemption law to bring a civil action against the political subdivision for damages, declaratory relief, and injunctive relief. A court must also award reasonable expenses (“reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs, expert witness fees, and compensation for loss of income”) to any person, group, or entity that brings the action, to be paid by the political subdivision, if the person, group, or entity prevails in the lawsuit or the ordinance, rule, regulation, resolution, practice, or action or the manner of its enforcement is repealed or rescinded after the lawsuit was filed but prior to a final court determination of the action. Ohio Rev. Code § 9.68(B), (C) (definitions).

State law at § 2923.21 prohibits (a) with some exceptions, the sale or furnishing of any firearm to a person under 18 years old and the sale or furnishing of a handgun to a person who is under 21; (b) the sale or furnishing of any firearm/handgun to persons who meet these age limits if the seller/transferor knows, or has reason to know, that the person purchasing or receiving the gun intends to sell or furnish the gun to a minor in violation of state law.  

Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.211 prohibits persons under the age of 18 from purchasing or attempting to purchase a firearm, and anyone under 21 from purchasing or attempting to purchase a handgun (the handgun ban doesn’t apply to individuals aged at least 18 who are either law enforcement officers, or active or reserve member of the armed forces or the Ohio national guard, or former but honorably discharged members).

A separate law, Ohio Rev. Code § 2307.601, states that for the purposes of determining potential liability in a civil action related to a person’s use of force alleged to be in self-defense, defense of another, or defense of the person’s residence, the person has no duty to retreat before using force in self-defense, defense of another, or defense of that person’s residence if that person is in a place in which the person lawfully has a right to be, and likewise prohibits the court from considering the possibility of retreat as a factor.