Vivek Ramaswamy Gun Safety Ohio

Vivek Ramaswamy Wants 18-Year-Olds in Ohio to Be Able to Buy Handguns — and Calls Red Flag Laws a 'Slippery Slope'

Vivek Ramaswamy says that as governor he would change Ohio law so 18- to 20-year-olds can buy handguns. He also dismisses the red flag laws and background checks most gun owners support, in a state where guns were the leading cause of death for kids in 2024.

MAGA Report Cards · Oct 20, 2026

Vivek Ramaswamy Wants 18-Year-Olds in Ohio to Be Able to Buy Handguns — and Calls Red Flag Laws a 'Slippery Slope' — Photo: AP, via News 5 Cleveland

Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee for Ohio governor, says he would change state law so that 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds can buy handguns.

"Change that I would be in favor of making in Ohio to ensure that we're fully protecting what the Second Amendment was intended to protect," he said, according to News 5 Cleveland.

Ohio has spent years loosening its gun laws. Ramaswamy wants to go further, and he's dismissing the safety measures his opponent says most gun owners support.

What he said

Today, federal and Ohio law bar most adults under 21 from buying handguns. In Ohio, 18- to 20-year-olds can already buy rifles and shotguns, and there are exceptions for young adults in the military or law enforcement.

At a Columbus Metropolitan Club event, Ramaswamy said that isn't fair, since 18-year-olds can join the military:

"Why can't you similarly purchase at the age of 18 in certain markets where you're restricted from doing so before the age of 21? Doesn't make sense."

His pledge comes right after a move by the Trump administration. In September, Trump's Justice Department released an opinion concluding that the federal ban on handgun sales to under-21s is unconstitutional. The opinion said the federal law "may not be enforced to impose criminal penalties on dealers who sell handguns" to 18- to 20-year-olds. That leaves state laws like Ohio's as the remaining barrier, and Ramaswamy is promising to take it down.

Red flag laws? A "slippery slope"

His Democratic opponent, Dr. Amy Acton, said she backs the Second Amendment but wants "reasonable measures": background checks, red flag laws, and safe storage of guns at home. "Eighty percent of gun owners want reasonable, reasonable measures," she said.

Ramaswamy rejected them:

"Those things have been abused because it doesn't even need to go through a judicial process. It's a complete slippery slope all the way down."

Ohio's police have asked lawmakers to stop

Ohio has spent years making guns easier to carry and harder for cities to regulate:

In 2022 the state passed "constitutional carry," letting residents carry a concealed handgun with no training and no license.
This spring, Senate Republicans passed S.B. 278, which would let anyone sue a city or township that has its own gun safety law, and let judges make those cities pay fines and legal fees. It is now in a House committee.
Columbus and Cincinnati are both in court defending laws requiring gun owners to lock up their firearms away from children.

According to News 5, the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, the state's top police union, has begged lawmakers to stop loosening gun laws, saying it only makes officers' jobs harder.

The cost is already high. Ohio had 1,745 gun deaths in 2024, and firearms were the leading cause of death for Ohio children and teens ages 1 to 17 that year, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.

In summary

Vivek Ramaswamy says that as governor he would change Ohio law to let 18- to 20-year-olds buy handguns, a month after a Trump Justice Department opinion called the federal age limit unconstitutional. He called red flag laws and other safety measures his opponent supports "a complete slippery slope." He is pledging this in a state with 1,745 gun deaths in 2024, where the state's top police union has asked lawmakers to stop loosening gun laws.