Three votes, one day

The Ohio Legislature's status page logs three moves on November 10, 2026. House Public Safety reported the substitute favorably, the House passed it, and the Senate concurred in the amendments.

One detail matters to builders. The Senate-passed version was suppressors only, amending just sections 1533.04, 2923.11, and 2923.17. In the House, a substitute added sawed-off firearms and touched 2923.12 as well. Per the long title, the final bill covers "firearm mufflers and suppressors and sawed-off firearms". If the governor signs, that text becomes law.

The full record runs from June 2025 to today.

What Ohio law says right now

Until SB 214 becomes law, R.C. 2923.11 still defines dangerous ordnance to include "(1) Any automatic or sawed-off firearm, zip-gun, or ballistic knife" and "(5) Any firearm muffler or suppressor". The same statute sets the size limits: a shotgun barrel under eighteen inches, a rifle barrel under sixteen inches, or a shotgun or rifle under twenty-six inches overall.

R.C. 2923.17 reads: "No person shall knowingly acquire, have, carry, or use any dangerous ordnance." A violation is "a felony of the fifth degree". R.C. 2923.12 separately bans carrying a dangerous ordnance concealed on your person or ready at hand. Those are the categories SB 214 removes items from.

The federal tax side: $200 to $0

Section 70436 of Public Law 119-21 cut the NFA making and transfer taxes to $0 for every NFA firearm except machine guns and destructive devices. The statute was signed on July 4, 2025. ATF's final tax-remittance rule puts that change into the rules. Published in the Federal Register on May 8, 2026, it sets the tax on most NFA firearms to $0 and lets the tax approval stamp issue electronically.

The Texas lawsuit: what it did and did not settle

In July 2025, a broad coalition sued ATF in the Northern District of Texas. The docket for Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF, No. 6:25-cv-00056 carries three dates: filed July 4, 2025, terminated August 5, 2026, last known filing November 3, 2026. The docket names companies and states as plaintiffs: B&T USA, the Silencer Shop Foundation, Palmetto State Armory, Silencerco Weapons Research, and 15 states, from Alaska to Louisiana.

The case attacked the registration and transfer requirements that survive a $0 tax. Do not assume the whole NFA process is dead for you. Court relief runs to the parties named in a case unless a judge grants something broader, and this docket does not read like a national reset. Unless you are a party or you get advice that puts you inside the relief, register through the normal process or talk to an attorney before you skip it.

What this means for an 80 lower build

If you build a personally manufactured firearm (PMF) from an 80 lower, here is the practical picture as of November 12, 2026:

1. 1Your PMF question in Ohio is mostly a federal question. The dangerous ordnance category that SB 214 rewrites covers suppressors, sawed-off firearms, and machine gun parts. A completed personal-build rifle with a standard barrel is not what this bill touches.
2. 2The zip-gun definition does not move. R.C. 2923.11 still calls a homemade firearm "of crude and extemporized manufacture" a zip-gun, and zip-guns stay dangerous ordnance. Sloppy workmanship on a homemade gun can still be charged under Ohio law. Build to normal dimensions and keep your work clean.
3. 3Do not cut a barrel in Ohio yet. Until the governor acts, a short-barrel rifle is a sawed-off firearm. Ohio still grades dangerous ordnance possession as a fifth-degree felony under current Ohio law. The federal $0 tax does not change Ohio's criminal code this week.
4. 4Keep federal paperwork straight. The 2022 frame-or-receiver rule treats an 80% receiver as a firearm once you finish it. Serializing and recordkeeping follow federal rules even while Ohio reclassifies other items.

Where Ohio law still bites

Automatics stay dangerous ordnance. Ballistic knives stay. And until the governor signs, everything on the current list stays a felony exposure. Enactment timing comes from Ohio Constitution Article II, Section 16. A bill not returned within ten days, Sundays excepted, becomes law as if signed. If an adjournment blocks the return, it becomes law unless the governor files written objections within ten days after adjournment.

So the two dates that matter now are simple: the day the governor signs, or the day the ten-day clock runs out.

What to watch next

• Whether the governor signs SB 214, vetoes it, or lets it become law without signature. The bill text that passed both chambers on November 10 is what he gets.
• Whether federal registration requirements for suppressors and short-barrel firearms get more court review. The Texas docket is closed on its face but had filings into November.
• Whether you fall inside court-ordered relief before skipping a federal form. That is attorney territory, not blog territory.

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