What Are the Airsoft Gun Laws in Ohio?
There are no laws within Ohio’s weapons code that prohibit or forbid pellet guns, BB guns or airsoft guns except a provision that prohibits their use in rest areas and roadside parks, as of July 2014. The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence notes that laws limiting non-powder guns in Ohio do not exist in the state’s code. Fox 19-WXIX in Cincinnati explains pellet gun limits are up to municipalities.
Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland have laws restricting air guns and pellet guns. Fox 19-WXIX explains Cincinnati classifies airsoft guns as “dangerous weapons” that cannot be used in public, and the guns cannot be sold within 1,000 feet of a school. Cleveland and Columbus prohibit pellet guns in public spaces. Nowhere is there a limit on who can buy pellet guns or what minimum age a customer must be to purchase airsoft guns in Ohio.
The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence states there are roughly 3.2 million pellet or BB guns sold in the United States annually. Between 2001 and 2011, these types of guns injured more than 209,000 people, with more than 145,000 of those injuries occurring to people 19 and younger. Pellet guns cause an average of four deaths per year. Pellet guns and airsoft guns look like weapons that fire powder-based ammunition. However, projectiles are launched using compressed gas or spring-loaded contraptions.
