A buried provision in Ohio's Keep Them Safe Act opens a new business opportunity for licensed gun dealers—and it may affect how you think about liability.
Most Ohio trucking and transportation owners don't realize that a provision buried in SB273 (the Keep Them Safe Act) has quietly created a new optional revenue stream for licensed firearms dealers—and changed the liability landscape around firearm storage in the state.
Here's what's actually in the bill, and why it matters to your business decisions.
Section 2923.26(F), found on Page 2 of SB273, explicitly permits federally licensed firearms dealers to accept firearms for voluntary storage and to charge fees for that service. This is important: dealers are permitted to do this, but never required.
In plain terms, a small gun shop or licensed dealer in Ohio can now legally offer firearm storage as a business service and collect payment for it. Before this provision, the legal authority to do so was unclear.
The same section also grants civil liability immunity to dealers who participate in firearm storage. That means if a dealer accepts a firearm for storage and something goes wrong—theft, damage, or loss—the dealer generally cannot be sued, with one critical exception: if the dealer acts with malicious purpose.
This immunity significantly reduces litigation risk for dealers who choose to offer the service. Without it, a dealer accepting firearms for storage would face potential lawsuits even if they acted reasonably and in good faith. That's a meaningful shift in the legal environment.
Directly: federally licensed firearms dealers operating in Ohio. If you own or operate a gun shop or similar licensed business, this provision is relevant to your operations and your bottom line.
Indirectly: anyone considering whether to use a dealer's storage service. The liability immunity means dealers have stronger legal protection if they participate, which may make the service more available and affordable across the state.
If you're a licensed dealer, this provision removes legal ambiguity. You now have explicit statutory authority to offer storage and charge for it—and you have liability protection if you do. Whether you actually launch a storage service is entirely your call. It's an optional revenue stream, not a mandate.
The immunity protection is conditional: it only applies if you're not acting with malicious purpose. That means basic competence and good-faith storage practices should be enough to qualify for protection.
The provision becomes effective upon enactment of SB273. The specific effective date has not yet been filled in on the bill text, so watch for that announcement from the Ohio Secretary of State's office once the bill is signed into law.
For Ohio firearms dealers, this is a straightforward expansion of what you're legally allowed to do. For everyone else, it's a quiet change to how liability works around firearm storage in the state.
Source: SB273, Section 2923.26(F), Page 2; Ohio Legislature.