Anti-Second Amendment forces are trying to repeal Preemption in Ohio. SB 78 is a dangerous bill that if passed would repeal the entirety of Ohio’s preemption law, including Knife Law Preemption which was just enacted last year after six years of Knife Rights' efforts. The initial Sponsor's Hearing on the bill was held today before the Senate Veterans and Public Safety Committee. No action was taken.

Repeal of knife law preemption would leave millions of knife owners living in and traveling through Ohio vulnerable to the whims of local county, city, and town governments. A review of who runs many of those jurisdictions in Ohio should frighten any freedom-loving knife owner.

We also know that, based on our experience, the abuse of such restrictions this bill would allow will fall most heavily on minorities and the economically disadvantaged, the opposite of criminal justice reform that the proponents of this bill normally support. SB78 would also repeal Ohio’s firearms preemption law.

Knife Rights will continue to monitor this terrible legislation and is prepared to do whatever it takes to kill it should it move in the committee. We cannot allow those who hate freedom to turn the clock back.

Knife Law Preemption is a key Knife Rights criminal justice reform effort that repeals and prevents local ordinances more restrictive than state law which only serve to confuse or entrap law-abiding citizens traveling within or through the state. Preemption ensures citizens can expect consistent enforcement of state knife laws everywhere within a state.

In its 2022 NYSRPA v. Bruen decision, the Supreme Court emphasized that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is not "a second-class right, subject to an entirely different body of rules than the other Bill of Rights guarantees." Few of those proposing to repeal preemption in Ohio would likely continence allowing county, city, and town governments to individually decide to abrogate or restrict their First Amendment rights, for example (though they hypocritically might want to restrict yours). It is arguable that after Bruen, such local restrictions and bans would be unconstitutional on their face.

Knife Rights passed the nation’s first Knife Law Preemption bill in Arizona in 2010 and has since passed preemption bills in Alaska, Georgia, Kansas, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Knife Rights is America’s grassroots knife owners’ organization; leading the fight to Rewrite Knife Law in America™ and forging a Sharper Future for all Americans™. Knife Rights efforts have resulted in 44 bills enacted repealing knife bans in 28 states and over 175 cities and towns since 2010.