OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
S.B. 164 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for S.B. 164’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsor: Sen. Craig
Effective date:
Ashley Dean, Attorney
SUMMARY
Do Not Possess Firearms Registry
 Creates the Do Not Possess Firearms Registry.
 Requires the Attorney General to develop and distribute a form for enrollment in the
Registry, and a form for removal from the Registry, which must include specified
information.
 Directs the Attorney General to develop an online platform by which a person may
register.
 Requires the Attorney General, and the courts and agencies to which the forms are
distributed, to prominently display the forms on the Attorney General’s, court’s, or
agency’s website.
 Prohibits a person enrolled in the Registry from knowingly purchasing, possessing, or
transporting a firearm.
 Requires a person registering to turn over any firearms in the person’s possession to a
law enforcement agency within 48 hours of registration.
 Requires law enforcement officials to confiscate any firearm unlawfully possessed,
transported, or received by a person enrolled in the Registry, until the person is
removed from the Registry.
 Specifies the procedures for submitting an application or enrollment in or removal from
the registry and what information must be included.
 Prohibits the Attorney General from removing a person enrolled in the Registry until 21
days after receiving the person’s application for removal, absent a court order.
 Permits a person to petition the common pleas court in the person’s county of
residence for removal prior to the expiration of the 21-day waiting period.
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 Requires the common pleas court to determine by a preponderance of the evidence
that a person petitioning for early removal is not likely to act in a manner dangerous to
public safety or to the person’s self before granting the petition.
 Permits any public official or interested party to present evidence during proceedings
related to a petition for early removal.
 Requires the court to make the determination not later than two court days following
the proceeding, and to immediately transmit notice of that determination to the
Attorney General.
 Requires the Attorney General to remove a person from the Registry no later than 24
hours after receipt of notice to do so from a common pleas court.
 Requires the Attorney General to continuously update the National Instant Criminal
Background Check System, and states with analogous lists or registries, with enrollment
and removal information for the Registry.
 Requires the Attorney General to notify people enrolling in, or being removed from, the
Registry, of that status change by mail.
 Requires the destruction of all records related to the enrollment and removal of a
person from the Registry upon that person’s removal from the Registry.
Related Prohibitions
 Prohibits knowing inquiry into a person’s status on the Registry, other than to
determine that person’s eligibility to purchase, possess, or transport a firearm.
 Prohibits knowingly giving false information or making a false statement with the
purpose to enroll a person in or remove a person from the Registry.
 Prohibits knowing discrimination based on a person’s present or former status on the
Registry with regard to the person’s receipt of health care services, employment,
education, housing, insurance, governmental benefits, or contracting.
 Prohibits knowingly, or negligently due to failure to conduct a required background
check, transferring a firearm to a person enrolled in the Registry.
 Specifies that violations of the above listed prohibitions are punishable by fine only.
Concealed handgun licenses
 Specifies that enrollment in the Do Not Possess Firearms Registry is a disqualification
when applying for a concealed handgun license.
 Establishes procedures for the suspension of a concealed handgun license upon a
licensee’s enrollment in the Registry.
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Public records
 Exempts enrollment or removal records of the Do Not Possess Firearms Registry from
the Public Records Law.
Public information
 Requires the State Medical Board and the Department of Mental Health and Addiction
Services to adopt rules encouraging licensees to inform the public about the Registry.
 Requires the Attorney General to implement and manage a public awareness campaign
regarding the Registry.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Do Not Possess Firearms Registry
The bill is named the Suicide Self-Defense Act.1
Within six months after the effective date of the bill, the Attorney General must
establish a Do Not Possess Firearms Registry to prohibit the possession, sale, or transportation
of a firearm to any person who voluntarily registers the person’s self to be enrolled in the
Registry. The Attorney General is responsible for the maintenance of the Registry, and
promulgation of rules for the implementation of the Registry.2
Additionally, the Attorney General must develop and distribute a form to every clerk of
a court of record, the Department of Health, the Department of Mental Health and Addiction
Services, and the State Medical Board to allow individuals to register on the Registry, and a
form by which an individual may request removal. The Attorney General, and the courts and
agencies to which the form is distributed, must prominently display the form on the Attorney
General’s, court’s, or agency’s website.3
At a minimum, the form must contain the following information:4
 Information on the 30-day waiting period after initial registration onto the Registry, as
well as information on the 21-day waiting period after a request for removal is received
by the Attorney General.
 The legal ramifications of registration, including that registration may subject a person
to laws of other states with analogous do not sell or do not possess lists or registries.
1 Section 4.
2 R.C. 2923.22(B)(1).
3 R.C. 2923.22(B)(2).
4 R.C. 2923.22(B)(2).
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 The requirement that a person registering on the Do Not Possess Firearms Registry turn
over any firearms in the person’s possession to a law enforcement agency within 48
hours of registration and how to do so.
Within six months after the effective date of the bill, the Attorney General must also
develop an online platform, accessible through the Attorney General’s website, by which a
person may register on the Registry that does all of the following:5
 Verifies the identity of any person who registers or attempts to register;
 Prevents unauthorized disclosure of the identity or any personally identifying
information of any registering person;
 Informs a person registering of the effects of registration;
 Provides an option for the person registering to receive a hard copy of the completed
registration form in writing by mail or electronic mail;
 Provides an option to receive notification by mail or electronic mail of removal from the
Registry;
 Provides information on how to relinquish a firearm to a law enforcement agency.
A person may apply in writing to the Attorney General to request voluntary enrollment
in the Do Not Possess Firearms Registry and, after being enrolled in the Registry, may apply in
writing to the Attorney General to request removal from the Registry.6 An application for
enrollment in or removal from the Registry may be submitted by mail, via the online portal on
the Attorney General’s website, or in person to the office of the Attorney General.7 An
application for enrollment or removal must include a photocopy or an electronic image of a
valid form of photo identification.8
“Photo identification” is a document that meets each of the following requirements:9
 It shows the name of the individual to whom it was issued;
 It shows the current address of the individual to whom it was issued;
 It shows a photograph of the individual to whom it was issued;
 It includes an expiration date that has not passed;
 It was issued by the government of the United States or Ohio.
5 R.C. 2923.22(B)(3).
6 R.C. 2923.22(C)(1).
7 R.C. 2923.22(C)(3).
8 R.C. 2923.22(C)(4).
9 R.C. 2923.22(A).
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The Attorney General cannot remove a person enrolled in the Registry until 21 days
after the Attorney General receives the person’s application for removal.10 A person who has
enrolled in the Registry may petition the common pleas court of the county in which the person
resides for removal prior to 21 days after the Attorney General receives the person’s
application for removal from the Registry. The person petitioning for removal must show, by a
preponderance of the evidence, that the person is not likely to act in a manner dangerous to
public safety, or to the person’s self. Any public official or interested party may also present
evidence during the proceedings.11
The common pleas court of the county in which the person resides must determine
whether or not the person is likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety, or to the
person’s self not later that two court days following a proceeding regarding removal. The court
is required to immediately transmit notice of that determination to the Attorney General. The
Attorney General must then remove a person from the Registry, if directed to do so by the
court, not later than 24 hours after receipt of that notice.12
A person enrolled in the Registry is prohibited from knowingly purchasing, possessing,
or transporting a firearm. A violation of this prohibition is “illegally possessing, purchasing, or
transporting a firearm while enrolled in the Do Not Possess Firearms Registry,” a first degree
misdemeanor.13 If a person who has enrolled in the Do Not Possess Firearms Registry is found
to possess, transport, or receive a firearm while enrolled in the Registry, law enforcement
officials must confiscate the firearm until the person is removed or unenrolled from the
Registry.14
The bill includes within the offense of “unlawful transactions in weapons” knowingly
selling, lending, giving, or furnishing any firearm to a person who is enrolled in the Registry, if
the offender knows the person is enrolled in the Registry. A violation of that prohibition is a
first degree misdemeanor.15
On enrolling a person in the Registry, the Attorney General must forward the person’s
eligibility to purchase, possess, or transport a firearm to the National Instant Criminal
Background Check System and notify the person by mail or electronic mail that the person is
enrolled in the Registry. The Attorney General is required to continuously forward Registry
information to both the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and to any other
state that adopted an analogous do not sell or do not possess list or registry. Upon notice from
another state that has implemented an analogous list or registry that a person has been
10 R.C. 2923.22(C)(2) and (E).
11 R.C. 2923.22(C)(5)(a).
12 R.C. 2923.22(C)(5)(b).
13 R.C. 2923.133.
14 R.C. 2923.22(D)(2).
15 R.C. 2923.20(A)(8) and (C).
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enrolled in or removed from that state’s list or registry, the Attorney General must update the
Do Not Possess Firearms Registry within one business day.16 On removal of a person from the
Registry, the Attorney General must update that person’s eligibility to purchase, possess, or
transport a firearm to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System and destroy all
records related to the enrollment in and removal of the person from the Registry.17
Upon a person’s removal from the Registry, the Attorney General, courts, and any other
law enforcement agency or office with a record of that person’s registration is required to
destroy the records of that person’s registration.18
Related prohibitions
The bill also includes the following prohibitions related to the Do Not Possess Firearms
Registry:
 A person is prohibited from knowingly inquiring as to whether another person is
enrolled in the Do Not Possess Firearms Registry for any other purpose other than to
determine that person’s eligibility to purchase, possess, or transport a firearm. A
violation of this prohibition is “improper inquiry regarding the Do Not Possess Firearms
Registry,” a third degree misdemeanor.19
 A person is prohibited from knowingly giving false information or making a false
statement with the purpose to enroll a person in or remove a person from the Registry.
A violation of this prohibition is “false statement to enroll or remove from the Do Not
Possess Firearms Registry,” a second degree misdemeanor.20
 A person is prohibited from knowingly discriminating against another person with
regard to the person’s receipt of health care services, employment, education, housing,
insurance, governmental benefits, or contracting due to that person not being enrolled
in the Registry, being enrolled in the Registry, or previously being enrolled in the
Registry. A violation of this prohibition is “improper use of the Do Not Possess Firearms
Registry,” a first degree misdemeanor.21
 A person or entity is prohibited from knowingly, or negligently due to failure to perform
a required background check, transferring a firearm to a person enrolled in the Do Not
16 R.C. 2923.22(D)(1).
17 R.C. 2923.22(E).
18 R.C. 2923.22(F).
19 R.C. 2923.221(A) and (E)(2).
20 R.C. 2923.221(B) and (E)(3).
21 R.C. 2923.221(C) and (E)(4).
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Possess Firearms Registry. A violation of this prohibition is “improper transfer to a
person on the Do Not Possess Firearms Registry,” a first degree misdemeanor.22
An individual or organization that violates one of the above mentioned prohibitions is
subject to a fine, but not imprisonment. If the entity that commits improper transfer to a
person on the Do Not Possess Firearms Registry is an organization, the court may impose a fine
of not more than $5,000.23
Concealed handgun licenses
Under the bill, a person’s enrollment in the Do Not Possess Firearms Registry is a
disqualification when applying for a concealed handgun license.24
If a person enrolled in the Registry holds a concealed handgun license, the sheriff who
issued the license must suspend it and provide the licensee with notice of the suspension by
certified mail, return receipt requested, at the licensee’s last known address. The sheriff must
also make notification of the suspension available through the Law Enforcement Automated
Data System. The suspension begins on the date that the licensee is first enrolled in the
Registry, irrespective of when the sheriff notifies the licensee, and ends on the date the
licensee is removed from the Registry. Upon the end of the suspension, the sheriff will return
the license or temporary emergency license to the licensee.25
Public records
Under the bill, an application to be enrolled in or removed from the Do Not Possess
Firearms Registry, and any other personal identifying information contained in or related to the
Registry, is not a public record.26
Public information
The bill requires the State Medical Board and the Department of Mental Health and
Addi