Attorney General announces First Quarter 2008 CHL statistics
The Ohio Attorney General’s office has released the concealed handgun license (CHL) statistics for the first quarter of 2008. The numbers indicate demand is strong and increasing.
Demand for initial CHL’s surged 28% compared to year earlier data. This represents the forth quarter in a row that demand has exceeded the year over year numbers. The 6,834 regular licenses issued bring the latest four quarter total to 23,851. To find four consecutive quarters with a higher total number of CHL’s issued, you have to start with the last quarter of 2004, starting when the shall issue law was less than six moths old!
Renewals only started becoming due in the second quarter, but 2,706 people took advantage of the ability to renew early. Several counties issued more renewals than original licenses. We have received reports of many renewals taking longer to issue than the original license, so it is advisable to renew early.
The normal trend for states starting to issue licenses is a surge in the first year, a big drop off in the second year, and a smaller decline in year three. After the third year demand generally remains stable.
Ohio followed the trend for the first three years, but had a substantial 27% increase in demand in year four. The most plausible explanation for the dramatic increase in demand for CHL’s is better laws.
Ohio’s original law was severely flawed and burdensome for CHL holders. It required a holstered gun to be in “plain sight” in vehicles. It also discriminated against women by not allowing them to carry in a purse. These problems were addressed in late 2006 when the legislature overrode Governor Taft’s veto of common sense improvements to Ohio’s law.
On the heels of SB184 being signed into law by Governor Strickland, we expect demand to stay strong throughout the remainder of 2008. Law abiding people like good laws that don’t unduly restrict them, while allowing police and prosecutors to arrest and convict criminals. That is exactly what SB184 does.
As we complete the first four years lawful concealed carry, it is interesting to note that the anti-gunners will not be touting the numbers of how successful the law has been. They lied years ago saying we wanted to keep the numbers secret so people would not know how many problems there are. In truth, we wanted the statistics to prove how well the law works. We have analyzed the data and done a story promoting the findings every quarter as data becomes available. When people understand the issue, they agree with us.
The numbers continue to show that less than one half of one percent of all CHL’s ever issued have been revoked for any reason, including moving out of state or death of the license holder. Concealed carry license holders are among the most law-abiding citizens in our society.
There have now been 115,702 regular CHL’s issued. 2,706 of those were renewed early. There were 16 temporary emergency licenses (TEL’s) issued in the first quarter brining the four year total to 290 TEL’s.
More than 1% of Ohio’s total population is now licensed to carry concealed handguns. The numbers look even stronger when you consider that more than 2,766,000 of Ohio’s population are under the age of 18 and will not even be eligible for a CHL for at least another three years.
At the end of the day, many people still don’t get why anyone would want to carry a gun. The answer is simple – we don’t want to be a helpless victim. We are responsible adults who want to live. We understand the police will not always be there to protect us. We are prepared to win a deadly encounter.
Ohio’s concealed carry law works.
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