Having an Ohio Concealed Carry Permit Means No More Background Checks at Purchase

On March 25th Attorney General Mike DeWine announced that effective immediately, citizens of Ohio who posses a valid concealed handgun permit will no longer be submitted to the state background check when purchasing a firearm from a licensed dealer. In the past, despite a gun owner already having taken a training course and passing a through background check at both the state and federal level, one still had to pay for and pass an additional background check at the point of sale from a licensed dealer. We applaud this decision by Mike DeWine to interpret the statutes this way. Ohio joins several other states where the permit is sufficient to purchase a gun.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) published an open letter to Ohio Federal Firearm Licensees (FFLs) notifying them that, effective immediately, they may accept a valid Ohio concealed handgun license issued on or after March 23, 2015 in lieu of conducting a background check through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).