New Ohio gun rules relaxing some requirements take effect

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

A new state law that relaxes some requirements for concealed-carry permits and allows hunters to use noise suppressors under certain conditions has taken effect in Ohio.

The law approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. John Kasich last year went into effect Monday, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

It allows licensed hunters to use noise suppressors while hunting certain birds and other wild game, including squirrels, rabbits and white-tailed deer. Opponents of the law have said quieter weapons aren’t as safe and are easier to use illegally.

The law also reduces the training time to get a concealed-weapons permit from a minimum of 12 hours to eight, including two hours devoted to range time and live-fire training. Additionally, the new law makes concealed-carry permits issued from other states valid in Ohio without a reciprocity agreement.

More-rigorous background checks for concealed-carry permits also go into effect under the law. Sheriffs now can check three national databases of criminal-history records instead of just one maintained by Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Other changes include adjusting the definition of an automatic weapon to delete any reference to a specific number of shots in a magazine and removing penalties for gun owners who bring a weapon to a parking lot or garage of a business posting signs prohibiting firearms.