To amend section 2923.11 and to enact sections 2923.191 and 5503.13 of the Revised Code to prohibit the manufacture, possession, purchase, sale, transfer, or offer to sell any assault weapon and certain other related conduct.

Section 1. That section 2923.11 be amended and sections 2923.191 and 5503.13 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 2923.11.  As used in sections 2923.11 to 2923.24 of the Revised Code:

(A) "Deadly weapon" means any instrument, device, or thing capable of inflicting death, and designed or specially adapted for use as a weapon, or possessed, carried, or used as a weapon.

(B)(1) "Firearm" means any deadly weapon capable of expelling or propelling one or more projectiles by the action of an explosive or combustible propellant. "Firearm" includes an unloaded firearm, and any firearm that is inoperable but that can readily be rendered operable.

(2) When determining whether a firearm is capable of expelling or propelling one or more projectiles by the action of an explosive or combustible propellant, the trier of fact may rely upon circumstantial evidence, including, but not limited to, the representations and actions of the individual exercising control over the firearm.

(C) "Handgun" means any firearm designed to be fired while being held in one hand.

(D) "Semi-automatic firearm" means any firearm designed or specially adapted to fire a single cartridge and automatically chamber a succeeding cartridge ready to fire, with a single function of the trigger.

(E) "Automatic firearm" means any firearm designed or specially adapted to fire a succession of cartridges with a single function of the trigger. "Automatic firearm" also means any semi-automatic firearm designed or specially adapted to fire more than thirty-one cartridges without reloading, other than a firearm chambering only .22 caliber short, long, or long-rifle cartridges.

(F) "Sawed-off firearm" means a shotgun with a barrel less than eighteen inches long, or a rifle with a barrel less than sixteen inches long, or a shotgun or rifle less than twenty-six inches long overall.

(G) "Zip-gun" means any of the following:

(1) Any firearm of crude and extemporized manufacture;

(2) Any device, including without limitation a starter's pistol, that is not designed as a firearm, but that is specially adapted for use as a firearm;

(3) Any industrial tool, signalling device, or safety device, that is not designed as a firearm, but that as designed is capable of use as such, when possessed, carried, or used as a firearm.

(H) "Explosive device" means any device designed or specially adapted to cause physical harm to persons or property by means of an explosion, and consisting of an explosive substance or agency and a means to detonate it. "Explosive device" includes without limitation any bomb, any explosive demolition device, any blasting cap or detonator containing an explosive charge, and any pressure vessel that has been knowingly tampered with or arranged so as to explode.

(I) "Incendiary device" means any firebomb, and any device designed or specially adapted to cause physical harm to persons or property by means of fire, and consisting of an incendiary substance or agency and a means to ignite it.

(J) "Ballistic knife" means a knife with a detachable blade that is propelled by a spring-operated mechanism.

(K) "Dangerous ordnance" means any of the following, except as provided in division (L) of this section:

(1) Any automatic or sawed-off firearm, zip-gun, or ballistic knife;

(2) Any explosive device or incendiary device;

(3) Nitroglycerin, nitrocellulose, nitrostarch, PETN, cyclonite, TNT, picric acid, and other high explosives; amatol, tritonal, tetrytol, pentolite, pecretol, cyclotol, and other high explosive compositions; plastic explosives; dynamite, blasting gelatin, gelatin dynamite, sensitized ammonium nitrate, liquid-oxygen blasting explosives, blasting powder, and other blasting agents; and any other explosive substance having sufficient brisance or power to be particularly suitable for use as a military explosive, or for use in mining, quarrying, excavating, or demolitions;

(4) Any firearm, rocket launcher, mortar, artillery piece, grenade, mine, bomb, torpedo, or similar weapon, designed and manufactured for military purposes, and the ammunition for that weapon;

(5) Any firearm muffler or silencer;

(6) Any combination of parts that is intended by the owner for use in converting any firearm or other device into a dangerous ordnance.

(L) "Dangerous ordnance" does not include any of the following:

(1) Any firearm, including a military weapon and the ammunition for that weapon, and regardless of its actual age, that employs a percussion cap or other obsolete ignition system, or that is designed and safe for use only with black powder;

(2) Any pistol, rifle, or shotgun, designed or suitable for sporting purposes, including a military weapon as issued or as modified, and the ammunition for that weapon, unless the firearm is an automatic or sawed-off firearm;

(3) Any cannon or other artillery piece that, regardless of its actual age, is of a type in accepted use prior to 1887, has no mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, or other system for absorbing recoil and returning the tube into battery without displacing the carriage, and is designed and safe for use only with black powder;

(4) Black powder, priming quills, and percussion caps possessed and lawfully used to fire a cannon of a type defined in division (L)(3) of this section during displays, celebrations, organized matches or shoots, and target practice, and smokeless and black powder, primers, and percussion caps possessed and lawfully used as a propellant or ignition device in small-arms or small-arms ammunition;

(5) Dangerous ordnance that is inoperable or inert and cannot readily be rendered operable or activated, and that is kept as a trophy, souvenir, curio, or museum piece.

(6) Any device that is expressly excepted from the definition of a destructive device pursuant to the "Gun Control Act of 1968," 82 Stat. 1213, 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(4), as amended, and regulations issued under that act.

(M) "Explosive" means any chemical compound, mixture, or device, the primary or common purpose of which is to function by explosion. "Explosive" includes all materials that have been classified as class A, class B, or class C explosives by the United States department of transportation in its regulations and includes, but is not limited to, dynamite, black powder, pellet powders, initiating explosives, blasting caps, electric blasting caps, safety fuses, fuse igniters, squibs, cordeau detonant fuses, instantaneous fuses, and igniter cords and igniters. "Explosive" does not include "fireworks," as defined in section 3743.01 of the Revised Code, or any explosive that is not subject to regulation under the rules of the fire marshal adopted pursuant to section 3737.82 of the Revised Code.

(N) "Assault weapon" means any of the following:

(1) Any semi-automatic firearm that is a handgun, any semi-automatic firearm that is a rifle, or any pump-action rifle, if the handgun or rifle is capable of accepting a detachable magazine and also possesses any one or more of the following:

(a) If the firearm is a rifle, a pistol grip located to the rear of the trigger;

(b) If the firearm is a rifle, a stock in any configuration, including, but not limited to, a thumbhole stock, a folding stock, or a telescoping stock, that allows the bearer of the firearm to grasp the firearm with the trigger hand in such a manner that the web of the trigger hand, between the thumb and the forefinger, can be placed below the top of the external portion of the trigger during firing;

(c) If the firearm is a handgun, a shoulder stock of any type or configuration, including, but not limited to, a folding stock or a telescoping stock;

(d) A barrel shroud;

(e) A muzzle brake;

(f) A muzzle compensator;

(g) Any feature capable of functioning as a protruding grip that can be held by the hand that is not the trigger hand.

(2) Any semi-automatic firearm that is a handgun and that is capable of accepting a detachable magazine at any location outside of the pistol grip;

(3) Any semi-automatic firearm that is a handgun or that is a center-fire rifle, if the handgun or rifle has a fixed magazine that has the capacity to accept more than ten rounds of ammunition;

(4) Any shotgun capable of accepting a detachable magazine;

(5) Any shotgun with a revolving cylinder;

(6) Any assault weapon conversion kit or other combination of parts from which an assault weapon of any type described in division (N)(1), (2), (3), (4), or (5) of this section can be assembled if the parts are in the possession or under the control of any person.

(O) "Barrel shroud" means, except as otherwise provided in this division, any covering, other than a slide, that is attached to, or that substantially or completely encircles, the barrel of a firearm and that allows the bearer of the firearm to hold the barrel with the non-shooting hand while firing the firearm, without burning that hand. "Barrel shroud" does not include an extension of the stock along the bottom of the barrel that does not substantially or completely encircle the barrel.

(P) "Muzzle brake" means any device attached to the muzzle of a weapon that utilizes escaping gas to reduce recoil.

(Q) "Muzzle compensator" means any device attached to the muzzle of a weapon that utilizes escaping gas to control muzzle movement.

(R) "Assault weapon conversion kit" means any kit or combination of parts that is designed and intended for use in converting a firearm into an assault weapon.

(S) "Detachable magazine" means a magazine, the function of which is to deliver one or more ammunition cartridges into the firing chamber, that can be removed from the firearm without the use of any tool, including, but not limited to, a bullet or ammunition cartridge.

(T) "Federally licensed firearms manufacturer or dealer" means an importer, manufacturer, or dealer having a license to deal in destructive devices or their ammunition, issued and in effect pursuant to the federal "Gun Control Act of 1968," 82 Stat. 1213, 18 U.S.C. 923 et seq., and any amendments or additions to that act or reenactments of that act.

Sec. 2923.191. (A) No person shall manufacture, possess, purchase, sell, otherwise transfer, or offer to sell any assault weapon, subject to division (C) of this section.

(B) No person shall possess or have under the person's control, at one time, subject to division (D) of this section, both of the following:

(1) A semi-automatic firearm that is a handgun, a semi-automatic firearm that is a rifle, or a pump-action rifle, if the handgun or rifle is capable of accepting a detachable magazine;

(2) Any magazine that is capable of being used with the handgun or rifle described in division (B)(1) of this section and that contains more than ten rounds of ammunition.

(C) Division (A) of this section does not apply to any of the following:

(1) The possession of an unloaded assault weapon for the purpose of permanently relinquishing it to a law enforcement agency in this state pursuant to rules adopted for that purpose by the superintendent of the state highway patrol under section 5503.13 of the Revised Code;

(2) The transfer of any assault weapon by a federally licensed firearms manufacturer or dealer to a law enforcement agency in this state for use by that agency or its employees for law enforcement purposes;

(3) The possession of an assault weapon that was legally possessed on the effective date of this section;

(4) The possession of an assault weapon that has been permanently disabled so that it is incapable of discharging a projectile.

(D) Division (B) of this section does not apply to any person while the person is doing either of the following:

(1) Lawfully engaged in shooting while at a shooting range that is operating in accordance with all applicable laws and requirements and that has obtained any licenses, permits, and insurance coverage required for that operation;

(2) Lawfully participating in a sporting event that is officially sanctioned by a club or organization established in whole or in part for the purpose of sponsoring sport shooting events.

(E) Any assault weapon, the manufacture, possession, purchase, sale, other transfer, or attempted sale of which is prohibited under division (A) of this section, is a public nuisance subject to abatement under Chapter 3767. of the Revised Code.

(F) The law enforcement agency to which the possession of any assault weapon is permanently relinquished pursuant to rules adopted under section 5503.13 of the Revised Code as described in division (C)(1) of this section shall destroy the assault weapon.

(G) Whoever violates division (A) or (B) of this section is guilty of possessing or transferring illegal firearms. Except as otherwise provided in this division, possessing or transferring illegal firearms is a felony of the fifth degree. Possessing or transferring illegal firearms is a felony of the third degree if the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a felony of the first or second degree and the offender committed the violation of division (A) or (B) of this section within five years of the date of the offender's release from imprisonment or from post-release control that is imposed for the commission of the felony of the first or second degree.

Sec. 5503.13. The superintendent of the state highway patrol shall adopt rules that provide procedures and criteria pursuant to which a person may permanently relinquish an unloaded assault weapon to a law enforcement agency in this state, as described in division (C)(1) of section 2923.191 of the Revised Code.

Section 2. That existing section 2923.11 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.