Ohio Gun Laws: Concealed Carry, Open Carry and Buying a Gun

Yes, since June 13, 2022. A 'qualifying adult' — 'Twenty-one years of age or older', not prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law or R.C. 2923.13, and meeting most concealed handgun license eligibility criteria — 'shall not be required to obtain a concealed handgun license' to carry a concealed handgun that is not a restricted firearm, and may carry it anywhere a licensee may, subject to the same restrictions. The right ends automatically if the person later becomes prohibited from possessing firearms.

Concealed handgun license, shall-issue, issued by the county sheriff: within forty-five days after receiving a complete application, documentation and fee, the sheriff 'shall issue' a license if the applicant meets the criteria, including that 'The applicant is at least twenty-one years of age.' Training: a course with 'at least eight hours of training in the safe handling and use of a firearm', including 'A minimum of two hours of in-person training that consists of range time and live-fire training', and a competency exam (written and in-person physical demonstration). Fee: 'a fee of sixty-seven dollars' for applicants who have been Ohio residents five or more years; for newer residents or nonresidents employed in Ohio, $67 'plus the actual cost of having a background check performed by the federal bureau of investigation'; waived for active, reserve, retired or honorably discharged military and certain others. A license 'shall expire five years after the date of issuance'; renewed licenses also last five years.

Allowed. The Ohio Attorney General's concealed-carry manual says: 'The open carry of firearms is legal in Ohio. Ohio's concealed-carry laws do not regulate "open" carry of firearms.' Open carry is still limited by the vehicle rules in R.C. 2923.16 and by place-based bans (e.g., school safety zones, courthouses, rooms where liquor is consumed in D-permit premises), and private employers and property owners may prohibit firearms under R.C. 2923.126(C). Buying age limits in R.C. 2923.21 and 2923.211 apply.

'No person under eighteen years of age shall purchase or attempt to purchase a firearm', and 'No person under twenty-one years of age shall purchase or attempt to purchase a handgun' (exceptions for trained law enforcement officers and active, reserve or honorably discharged military members aged 18-20). Sellers may not 'Sell any firearm to a person who is under eighteen years of age' or 'sell any handgun to a person who is under twenty-one years of age', and may not furnish a firearm to anyone under 18 or a handgun to anyone under 21 'except for lawful hunting, sporting, or educational purposes' under adult supervision (a felony of the fifth degree).

Ohio has no state law that requires a background check, permit or license for private (non-dealer) sales. State law makes it an offense to 'Recklessly sell, lend, give, or furnish any firearm to any person prohibited' from acquiring firearms under R.C. 2923.13 or 2923.15, and to give materially false information to 'a federally licensed firearms dealer or private seller'.

Ohio has no state law that sets a waiting period for buying any firearm.

Ohio has no state law that provides for extreme risk protection orders (red flag orders).

Ohio has no state law that bans assault weapons or limits magazine capacity. Fully automatic firearms ('any firearm designed or specially adapted to fire a succession of cartridges with a single function of the trigger') are dangerous ordnance that require a license or temporary permit under R.C. 2923.17-2923.18.

'No person shall knowingly transport or have a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle in such a manner that the firearm is accessible to the operator or any passenger without leaving the vehicle.' Without a license, a firearm in a vehicle must be unloaded and carried 'In a closed package, box, or case', 'In a compartment that can be reached only by leaving the vehicle', 'In plain sight and secured in a rack or holder made for the purpose', or (for long guns of specified length) in plain sight with the action open or stripped. These limits do not apply to a handgun carried by a concealed handgun licensee (or qualifying adult, who is treated as a licensee) or a trained active-duty service member who is not in a prohibited place. A licensee stopped by police with a loaded handgun in the vehicle must disclose it when an officer asks. No one may have a loaded handgun in a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Broad. A nonresident 'temporarily in this state' with 'a valid concealed handgun license that was issued by another license-issuing state', 'regardless of whether the other license-issuing state has entered into a reciprocity agreement', may carry with the same rights as an Ohio licensee. A new Ohio resident's out-of-state license is valid for six months after moving (indefinitely if the issuing state has a reciprocity agreement or substantially comparable requirements). The Attorney General negotiates reciprocity agreements with states whose requirements are 'substantially comparable' and that recognize Ohio licenses.

A license (or qualifying-adult status) does not authorize concealed carry in: police stations, sheriff's offices, highway patrol posts, BCI premises, prisons and jails; airport terminal areas beyond security screening; certain state mental health and developmental disability institutions; school safety zones (R.C. 2923.122; licensees may leave a handgun in a locked vehicle); courthouses and buildings with a courtroom (R.C. 2923.123); D-liquor-permit premises in violation of R.C. 2923.121 (licensees may possess there if not consuming beer or liquor and not under the influence); college and university premises unless the handgun is in a locked vehicle or the institution authorizes carry; places of worship 'unless the church, synagogue, mosque, or other place of worship posts or permits otherwise'; government buildings of the state or a political subdivision (other than shelters, restrooms, parking and rest facilities) unless the governing body permits; and places where federal law bans handguns. Private owners and lessees may post a conspicuous sign prohibiting firearms; knowingly violating it is criminal trespass.

Ohio has no state law that requires serial numbers on homemade firearms or regulates unfinished frames, receivers or kits. It is a crime to change, alter, remove or obliterate a manufacturer's serial number or to possess a firearm knowing it has been defaced, but that law 'does not apply to any firearm on which no manufacturer's serial number was inscribed at the time of its manufacture.'