Ohio's new concealed carry issuance numbers slip but rise in renewals

The number of Ohio concealed carry renewals is inching closer to the number of issued first-time permits.

Also, the number of Ohioans seeking their first-ever concealed carry permit has dramatically declined.

 

By law the Ohio Attorney General must submit quarterly and an annual report on the county-by-county breakdown of concealed carry permits. This tally includes first-time issuances, renewals, rejections, emergency-granted/non-renewable 90-day permits, and revocations.

The report is required to go to Ohio’s governor as well as the leaders in both chambers of Ohio’s state legislature.

In his recently issued report Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said that for 2014 the state’s 88 county sheriffs processed 58,060 new concealed carry permits as well as 52,146 renewals.

By comparison, for 2013 those figures were 96,972 and 48,370, respectively.
And for 2012 the numbers were 64,650 and 12,160, also respectively.

Begun in 2004 with the issuance of 45,497 concealed carry permits the number of Ohioans seeking such documents generally and steadily increased. Exceptions were the first couple of years when the program was just getting started and the number of permits declined.

The number of new permits applications processed peaked in 2013, though the number of five-year renewal permits being processed appears now to be on the rise.

Likewise rising is the number of revocations. In 2014 the state – through the various sheriff departments - revoked 1,412 permits. That figure is very nearly double the number of permits revoked in 2010: 720.

However, the number of denied permit applications dropped in 2014 (882) when compared to 2013 (1,142) and practically identical to the number in 2012 (889).

For 2014 among the counties with the highest number of new and renewal permits issued (respectively were: Lake –3,748 (the most new permits), and 1,853; Hamilton – 2,434 and 1,918; Butler 1,750 and 2,293; Montgomery – 2,798 and 2,258; Lucas – 907 and 1,127; Lorain – 1,228 and 1,116; Franklin – 3,696 and 2,770 (the most renewals); Clermont – 1,773 and 2,361; Summit – 1,353 and 1,973; Mahoning – 1,494 and 686.

Among Ohio’s 88 counties which either issued the least number of new or renewal concealed carry permits were: Coshocton – 87 and 33 (the least number of issuances in each category); Hardin – 153 and 105; Harrison – 132 and 70; Meigs – 98 and 97; Noble – 137 and 37; Paulding – 102 and 36; Henry – 140 and 84; Monroe – 112 and 75; Adams – 136 and 156; Defiance – 114 and 92.

In regards to permit application denials among the leaders were Hamilton – 113 (the greatest number of denials); Montgomery – 106; Lake – 92; Summit – 57; Stark – 45; Cuyahoga – 34.

Also, about 19 or so counties saw no denials in their application processing with a goodly number more counties experiencing fewer than 10 denials each.

As for revocations, Ohio recorded yanking 373 permits. Among the counties withdrawing the greatest number of concealed carry permits were: Montgomery – 40 (the county with the most revocations); Lake – 39; Franklin – 34; Cuyahoga – 33; Clermont and Hamilton – 30 each.

The largest ever number of concealed carry revocations was in 2012 with741 license retrievals by Ohio’s 88 county sheriffs.

Revocations are made for several reasons and not just because a permit holder may have been convicted of a crime worthy of having to give up a concealed carry permit

Among the other revocation possibilities are the holder dying or moving out of state, the holder being legally determined to be considered drug- or alcohol-dependent, the holder determined under Ohio law as being mentally ill, or the person simply no longer wanting a concealed carry permit.

DeWine’s extensive report further lists the number of states that have signed reciprocity agreements with Ohio. These compacts allow legally licensed concealed carry permit holders “… carry weapons in those jurisdictions and for those states’ citizens to carry weapons in Ohio.”

Importantly, notes DeWine as well, that such legal documented exchanges are required to include an analysis of those other state laws “to ensure they meet the requirements of Ohio’s concealed carry handgun law (ORC 109.69) and vice versa.”

 To date Ohio has official reciprocal agreements with Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

 

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

 

Jeff is the retired News-Herald reporter who  covered the earth sciences, the area's three county park systems and the outdoors for the newspaper. During his 30 years with The News-Herald Jeff was the recipient of more than 100 state, regional and national journalism awards. He also is a columnist and features writer for the Ohio Outdoor News, which is published every other week and details the outdoors happenings in the state.