If your firearm is lost or stolen, Ohio requires you to report it to law enforcement forthwith. We found no Ohio statute that tells you how to store an...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
If your firearm is lost or stolen, Ohio requires you to report it to law enforcement forthwith. We found no Ohio statute that tells you how to store an ordinary firearm, and R.C. 2923.19(A) instead requires proper precautions from anyone who has dangerous ordnance. When you buy a firearm, the dealer must offer you a lock for sale. You may also choose to store a firearm with a dealer or a law enforcement agency.
These rules reach different people in different roles.
Under R.C. 2923.20(A)(7), a person may not knowingly fail to report the loss or theft of a firearm in the person's possession or control to law enforcement forthwith. The statute sets no fixed number of hours; the duty is to report forthwith.
We found no Ohio statute that requires an ordinary firearm to be stored securely, having read R.C. 2923.19(A) in full, which instead says that no person, in acquiring, possessing, carrying, or using any dangerous ordnance, shall negligently fail to take proper precautions to secure it against theft or unauthorized or incompetent use and to insure the safety of persons and property.
At the time of a sale, R.C. 2923.25 requires a federally licensed firearms dealer to do the following:
The statute does not require the dealer to give a lock away or to supply a case. It borrows its dealer definition from a poster-supply statute that, on its face, describes destructive-device licensees. No Ohio authority we reviewed settles whether these duties reach every licensed dealer or only those licensees.
Under R.C. 2923.26(B), an owner of a lawfully possessed firearm, or a person the owner authorizes, may store it with a dealer or a law enforcement agency on application and agreement. The dealer option uses the same borrowed definition, so whether it reaches every licensed dealer is unsettled. Storage with a law enforcement agency does not depend on that definition.
A dealer may not agree to store a firearm if its federal firearms license will expire during the storage term, unless it filed a timely renewal and may keep operating under federal law, R.C. 2923.26(C)(1). A storing dealer must follow all federal laws on acquisition, transfer, and disposition of firearms, R.C. 2923.26(C)(2). No dealer may return a firearm if the return would directly violate state or federal law, R.C. 2923.26(C)(4).
A law enforcement agency may set its own policies on returning stored firearms, R.C. 2923.26(D)(1). No law enforcement agency may return a firearm if the return would directly violate state or federal law, R.C. 2923.26(D)(2).
Information in a storage application or agreement is confidential and is not a public record, R.C. 2923.26(J). It may be used only as the voluntary storage statute describes.
Nothing in the voluntary storage statute requires a dealer or law enforcement agency to accept a firearm for storage, R.C. 2923.26(E). Nothing in it requires them to store a firearm free of charge, R.C. 2923.26(F).
A dealer that accepts a firearm for storage is immune from civil liability for injury, death, or loss related to accepting, storing, or returning it, R.C. 2923.26(G). That immunity does not apply if the dealer acts with malicious purpose or intent to withhold the firearm without legal cause.
A law enforcement agency or political subdivision is immune from civil liability for the same kinds of injury, death, or loss, R.C. 2923.26(H). That immunity runs only to the extent and in the manner another chapter of the Revised Code provides.
Knowingly failing to report a lost or stolen firearm is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree, R.C. 2923.20.
We found no Ohio penalty for failing to store an ordinary firearm, having read R.C. 2923.19(B) in full, which makes failure to secure dangerous ordnance a misdemeanor of the second degree.
If a court finds a dealer or agency withheld a stored firearm after demand without legal cause, it must award reasonable costs and attorney's fees, R.C. 2923.26(I). That award comes in addition to any other relief the court orders.
| Who | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Person with a firearm or dangerous ordnance | Report loss or theft forthwith; failure is a fourth degree misdemeanor | R.C. 2923.20(A)(7) |
| Selling dealer, as defined by borrowed terms | Offer a lock for sale, post the poster, provide the brochure | R.C. 2923.25 |
| Owner or authorized person | May store with a dealer or law enforcement agency | R.C. 2923.26(B) |
| Storing dealer | No agreement if its federal license expires during the term, absent timely renewal | R.C. 2923.26(C)(1) |
| Storing dealer | Follow all federal acquisition, transfer, and disposition laws | R.C. 2923.26(C)(2) |
| Storing dealer | No return that directly violates state or federal law | R.C. 2923.26(C)(4) |
| Law enforcement agency | May set return policies | R.C. 2923.26(D)(1) |
| Law enforcement agency | No return that directly violates state or federal law | R.C. 2923.26(D)(2) |
| Dealer or agency | Not required to accept a firearm | R.C. 2923.26(E) |
| Dealer or agency | Not required to store free of charge | R.C. 2923.26(F) |
| Storing dealer | Civil immunity unless malicious or withholding without legal cause | R.C. 2923.26(G) |
| Agency or political subdivision | Civil immunity to the extent another chapter provides | R.C. 2923.26(H) |
| Dealer or agency | Court awards costs and attorney's fees for wrongful withholding | R.C. 2923.26(I) |
| Applicant | Application information is confidential and not a public record | R.C. 2923.26(J) |
Ohio requires a report forthwith, and the statute sets no fixed number of hours. Knowingly failing to report is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
The dealer must offer a trigger lock, gun lock, or gun locking device for sale at the time of sale. The statute does not require the dealer to give a lock away or to supply a case.
An owner of a lawfully possessed firearm may store it with a law enforcement agency on application and agreement. The agency is not required to accept it. The agency is not required to store it free of charge.
No dealer is required to accept a firearm for storage. Whether the dealer storage option reaches every licensed dealer or only destructive-device licensees is unsettled.
Information in a storage application or agreement is confidential and is not a public record.
A dealer or agency may not return a firearm if the return would directly violate state or federal law. If a court finds a withholding after demand was without legal cause, it must award reasonable costs and attorney's fees.
This page covers one part of our Ohio concealed carry guide.
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