An Ohio Senate bill aiming to remove suppressors from the state’s dangerous ordnance definition is scheduled for a fourth hearing on March 4. The hearing will take place before the Senate’s Armed Services, Veterans Affairs and Public Safety Committee.
Senate Bill 214, supported by Buckeye Firearms Association (BFA), proposes changes to Ohio law that would eliminate suppressors and mufflers from being classified as dangerous ordnance. It also seeks to remove requirements for suppressor registration under the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA). Senator Kyle Koehler sponsors the bill. Rob Sexton of BFA previously testified in favor of SB 214 during a committee session last June.
A live video stream of the hearing is expected to be available at 2:30 p.m. on March 4.
BFA has joined a letter led by the American Suppressor Association in support of SB 214 and its companion legislation, House Bill 331.
On February 27, BFA announced its participation in a new federal lawsuit challenging what remains of the NFA after federal taxes on certain firearms and accessories were eliminated. The case, Roberts v. ATF, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky against several federal entities including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), U.S. Department of Justice, and U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
Plaintiffs in this lawsuit include two Kentucky gun owners, Meridian Ordnance LLC—a veteran-owned firearms business—BFA, Center for Human Liberty, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, and the American Suppressor Association Foundation.
Since its enactment in 1934, the NFA imposed special taxes and federal registration requirements on items such as suppressors, short-barreled rifles (SBRs), short-barreled shotguns (SBSs), and “any other weapons” (AOWs). The government maintained these measures as tax enforcement tools. In 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), which removed making and transfer taxes on these items but left registration requirements intact.
The lawsuit argues: “Once Congress removed those taxes last year… it destroyed the NFA’s only constitutional foundation for regulating these items. With no tax left to enforce…the remaining registration paperwork burdens—and felony penalties—can no longer be justified under Congress’s taxing power or any other enumerated power in Article I.” It further states that “the NFA’s application to these now‑untaxed items is unconstitutional and must be struck down.”
The complaint also asserts that restrictions on suppressors and SBRs conflict with Second Amendment rights: “Under Bruen’s modern framework…there is no historical tradition whatsoever of imposing NFA‑style registration burdens—or felony criminal penalties—on such commonly owned arms,” according to plaintiffs’ arguments.
Meridian Ordnance describes how current rules create significant compliance costs and deter customers who are unwilling to provide personal information or face lengthy delays when purchasing regulated items like suppressors or SBRs.
Buckeye Firearms Association operates primarily in Ohio as a grassroots organization focused on firearm rights advocacy for self-defense, hunting, competition, and recreation (official website). The group provides updates about legislation affecting gun rights (official website), issues alerts regarding laws and politics related to firearms (official website), shares training opportunities (official website), and concentrates its efforts within Ohio (official website).
Individuals interested in supporting BFA’s advocacy work are encouraged by the organization to become members.
