Ohio's concealed carry permit process targets record-setting first quarter

In spite of – or perhaps because of – the shooting of elementary school students in Massachusetts in December, the number of people seeking permission to carry a concealed handgun in Ohio is at an all-time high.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine reported today how concealed carry license statistics for the first quarter of 2013 indicate more than 37,000 concealed carry licenses were issued in Ohio, a dramatic increase over the same period in 2012.

According to statistics reported to the Attorney General's office, county sheriffs in Ohio issued 31,407 new licenses and 6,354 renewal licenses, or 37,761 total licenses, between January 1 and March 31.

By comparison, says, DeWine also, during the first three months of 2012, 16,823 new licenses were issued.

As well, the number of permits issued so far is very nearly one-half the total number such documents issued for all of last year: 64,650.

Likewise, this year's first quarter number of permits were more than in all of 2005 (22,457), 2006 (15,751), or 2007 (22,103).

"The increase in law-abiding Ohioans seeking concealed carry permits to exercise their Second Amendment privileges is a noteworthy trend," DeWine said. "I look forward to continuing to work with Ohio's county sheriffs to provide information to Ohioans on this law's usage."

In Northeast Ohio the number of concealed carry permits issued and renewed during the first quarter of this year (with the first quarter of 2012 statistics in parentheses) were: Ashtabula County – 112 and 32 (70 and 2); Cuyahoga County – 469 and 154 (642 and 69); Geauga County – 875 and 251 (367 and 43); Lake County – 1,587 and 188 (885 and 61).

Note too that Lake County ranked second in the number of concealed carry permits issued during the first quarter of this year. Only Clermont County (a bedroom county of Cincinnati) issued more concealed carry permits than did Lake County during the first quarter of this year at 1,602 documents.

Similarly the sheriff in every one of Ohio's 88 counties issued concealed carry permits during the first three months of this year. The county that issued the fewest number of such permits was Noble County at 49 documents.

Ohio's concealed carry program is administered by the Ohio Attorney General's office through the sheriff in each of the state's 88 counties.

For further information as well as a complete year-by-year, quarter-by-quarter, county-by-county breakdown, visit the Ohio Attorney General's web site at www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov.

Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net