Ohio Lets Gun Owners Bill Back

Ohio just made unconstitutional local gun laws expensive for the governments writing them.

Driving the news: The Ohio Senate passed legislation allowing residents to sue local governments for legal fees when a court finds a local gun ordinance unconstitutional or in conflict with state law.

Catch up quick:

• Ohio, like most states, has preemption law — state gun law overrides local gun law
• Local governments have pushed ordinances anyway, betting residents can't afford to fight them
• This bill changes that math by making the city or county pick up the tab when they lose

The teeth here are financial. Preemption laws already exist in Ohio — and in Idaho, for that matter. The problem has always been enforcement. A city passes a magazine ban or storage mandate that clearly violates state preemption. A resident wants to challenge it. Attorney fees run $10,000–$50,000 or more. Most people walk away. The ordinance stays on the books. This bill removes that escape hatch.

Between the lines: This isn't really about winning lawsuits — it's about deterrence. If Columbus or Cleveland knows they'll be writing a check every time an unconstitutional ordinance gets challenged, the calculation on passing one changes before it ever reaches a vote.

What Idaho owners should know: Idaho has strong preemption, but the enforcement gap is real here too. No equivalent fee-shifting bill exists in Idaho yet. If Ohio's approach survives legal scrutiny and shows results, expect gun rights groups to start pushing similar language in Boise.

What to watch: Whether the bill clears the Ohio House and gets signed, and whether any legal challenges emerge from municipalities arguing the fee-shifting mechanism itself is constitutionally problematic.

The bottom line: Making governments pay when they lose is how you turn a paper right into a real one.