Ohioans who purchase suppressors, the mechanisms that makes gunfire quieter, are getting a tax break in the law President Trump and Republicans have called the “big beautiful bill.”
Buckeye Firearms Executive Director Dean Rieck said suppressors, often called silencers, are very common and protect gun users' hearing. But he said they don’t increase the power of guns.
“They are just about sound reduction. It’s kinda like a muffler on a car," Rieck said.
Still, Rieck said purchasing suppressors involves jumping through hoops that he thinks are laborious and unnecessary. He said starting Jan. 1, buyers will still have to fill out paperwork. But he said they won't pay the current $200 tax because it is waived under the Republican megabill.
No changes involving guns in the state budget
Rieck said his organization has been pushing some legislation on firearms at the state level, but none of it was included in the two-year state budget signed last month.
Several bills would expand gun rights for Ohioans and limit tracking of firearm transactions by financial institutions. Others would strengthen self-defense laws and reduce restrictions on carrying concealed weapons. Rieck said he expects some legislation might pass at the end of the session, perhaps during the lame duck session next December.
“The can gets kicked down the road until the very end of the session and then there’s a scramble to pass a bunch of stuff so that tends to be what happens with bills that we support," Rieck said.
But gun rights advocates did score a win this year with SB 58, which prohibits certain fees and insurance requirements related to firearms. And as fair season opened across Ohio, Attorney General Dave Yost told county fair operators that they do not have the legal authority to prevent fairgoers from bringing guns, either concealed or carried in the open.
