Are you legally allowed to carry your concealed handgun with a suppressor in Ohio? Learn about dangerous ordinance laws here.

Can You Legally Carry a Concealed Handgun with a Suppressor in Ohio? Here’s What Every Gun Owner Needs to Know

Navigating Ohio’s gun laws can be trickier than many realize—especially when it comes to suppressors (silencers) and concealed carry. Even if you’ve done everything right, a small misstep could turn lawful activity into a felony. Steve Palmer breaks down why this legal loophole matters, and what gun owners must watch out for.

Episode Overview

• Steve Palmer explains constitutional carry in Ohio and how the state’s definition of a "dangerous ordinance" surprisingly includes firearm suppressors (00:47).
• The current law means you could lawfully own a suppressor and handgun, but carrying them together—concealed—could make you a felon (01:32).
• He highlights recent legal challenges and possible changes to suppressor regulations following court rulings like the Silencer Shop Foundation case in Texas (02:47).
• Important implications for gun owners while driving: having a suppressor-attached handgun in your vehicle could land you in legal trouble (03:34).
• Steve Palmer advises practical steps to avoid violations and previews how future legal reforms could resolve these issues (04:24).

Top Takeaways

• In Ohio, a suppressor is considered a dangerous ordinance—making it illegal to carry concealed when attached to a handgun.
• Concealed carry with a suppressor, even in your car, currently risks felony charges.
• Federal and state laws don’t always align; recent cases may change registration requirements for suppressors.
• Legal reforms or court challenges could change these rules, but for now, gun owners must be vigilant.
• Practical advice: remove the suppressor when transporting your gun to avoid legal issues (04:30).

Submit your questions to www.lawyertalkpodcast.com.

Recorded at Channel 511.

Stephen E. Palmer, Esq. has been practicing criminal defense almost exclusively since 1995. He has represented people in federal, state, and local courts in Ohio and elsewhere.

Though he focuses on all areas of criminal defense, he particularly enjoys complex cases in state and federal courts.

He has unique experience handling and assembling top defense teams of attorneys and experts in cases involving allegations of child abuse (false sexual allegations, false physical abuse allegations), complex scientific cases involving allegations of DUI and vehicular homicide cases with blood alcohol tests, and any other criminal cases that demand jury trial experience.

Steve has unique experience handling numerous high publicity cases that have garnered national attention.

For more information about Steve and his law firm, visit Palmer Legal Defense.

Copyright 2026 Stephen E. Palmer - Attorney At Law

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Circle 270 Media Podcast Consultants

Circle 270 Media® is a podcast consulting firm based in Columbus, Ohio, specializing in helping businesses develop, launch, and optimize podcasts as part of their marketing strategy. The firm emphasizes the importance of storytelling through podcasting to differentiate businesses and engage with their audiences effectively. www.circle270media.com

All right. Be careful carrying your concealed handgun

with a suppressor attached. And you're thinking, well, wait a minute, I've got a right

to carry a concealed handgun, at least here in Ohio, without any

license at all. I can just go buy a gun and stick it in my

pocket and walk around. Ohio has what we call constitutional carry. There's still some limits,

but generally we can do it. And we are still allowed, or we're

allowed to go purchase a suppressor and stick it on

the end of that gun. In fact, Why would we purchase a suppressor if we

didn't intend to have it attached to our gun? Well,

here's how Ohio looks at this. Ohio's got a law that prohibits you from possessing

a dangerous ordinance. And you're thinking, well, what the heck is a dangerous ordinance?

I can tell you what it includes. It includes

a firearm muffler or suppressor. If you're— for you geeks that want to

know, that is located in— Title 22.

Ohio Revised Code

2923.11, dangerous ordinance

includes a firearm or a

suppressor or a silencer. And look, and

some of this law is probably written before suppressors. We could even go get one

with a stamp and do all these things. But

yeah, we can lawfully buy a suppressor, but you can't— in theory, it's a dangerous

ordinance in Ohio. Why does that matter? So it matters because

Ohio still has a law called carrying a concealed weapon. And one

of the subsections says you can't carry concealed, ready at hand,

a dangerous ordinance. Meaning if you've got a dangerous ordinance,

you can't carry that concealed, ready at hand. And again, you're thinking, well, how does

this make any sense? Because I'm allowed to own that and I'm allowed to own

a firearm. I'm allowed to conceal a firearm. What good is it if I can't

attach it to my firearm and conceal it? I guess they're saying you can only

use it outside at the range or hunting or whatever you're doing. Actually, you can

hunt with a handgun, so I suppose that would count. So it's a little

gotcha, and I'm dealing with it right now in a case. Now, before everybody goes

up in arms, you're going to see the comments. Everybody's going to say you're an

idiot because the Second Amendment prohibits that. And look, I agree. I'm waiting on a

case. I'm waiting for the right case to challenge this law because I think

it is a little bit incongruent, meaning it doesn't fit. It doesn't

mesh. Doesn't make any sense to me that you shouldn't be able to have your

suppressor or silencer that you own lawfully

attached to your gun. Now, there's a couple other things that are worth talking about.

As it stands right now, there is still a requirement

under federal law to go buy a stamp

to get your suppressor, and there's a form you got to fill it out and

you got to get your, quote, license. Sometimes that's easier depending on the states, I

hear. That's changing. There

was a big case that came out

of, I believe, Texas. Yeah, it is Texas. Issued a

landmark ruling in Silencer Shop Foundation versus the ATF,

the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, that since the tax stamp is

zero, the mandatory ATF Form 4 registration process

is unconstitutional for certain major gun rights groups.

Anyway, that it looks like there's some changes in the law that are coming.

So how that works with all the forms, I'm not going to jump into that.

It's a deeper dive we don't need to go into. But here, this is a

little bit of a— I don't know what other states are, folks. I don't know

what it would be like in less gun-friendly states, probably worse.

Ohio's generally gun-friendly. You're allowed to carry a concealed handgun without even a

license, but in theory, you can't do it with a suppressor attached.

So be careful. Now, what does that also mean if you're driving around in your

car? And it's in your glove box or it's in your center console or

under your seat and you got that suppressor attached,

you may not be improper handling a firearm in a motor vehicle, which is what

we would normally be charged with, but you might be carrying a

concealed weapon. And if you've got a license for it, you may not be

in unlawful possession of a dangerous ordinance because you got your license, but if it's

attached, now you're carrying concealed weapons. So you're turning innocent

activity into a felony here in Ohio. Again, I think

this is going to shake out one of two ways. Either some really highly

competent lawyer like— oops— like me

is going to challenge it. Perfect time for that chime, by the way.

A really competent lawyer like me is going to challenge it. We're going to go

up to state and federal courts, or the General Assembly

is going to wake up. That's the legislative branch here in Ohio. And they're gonna

change the law to sort of fix this. I'll wait and see. But for now,

be careful. If you're going to the range and you got your suppressor, take it

off the guns.