Attorney General announces Third Quarter 2008 CHL statistics
By Jim Irvine
The Ohio Attorney General's office has released the concealed handgun license (CHL) statistics for the third quarter of 2008. We have now seen six straight quarters of increased demand over the same period a year prior.
In the typically slow third quarter, the 7,632 regular concealed handgun licenses issued was a whopping 58% increase over the same period in 2007. Add to that another 9,130 renewals and 13 Temporary Emergency Licenses (TELs) and it is clear that demand for CHL's continues to be strong and getting stronger.
In fact, the evidence is that even five years later the CHL is still one of the most successful government programs going. Over 250 people every business day applied for a new or renewal CHL in Ohio. New licenses are still averaging over 100 every business day.
In the first nine months of this year, there where 23,176 regular licenses issued. That is more than were issued for the entire year in 2005, 2006, or 2007. Further proof that as the law gets better, and people learn about those improvements, even more people are deciding to get training and buy a gun for personal protection.
It is expected that Ohio will issue between 28,000 and 30,000 licenses in 2008. Instructors are reporting full classes and are holding extra classes to try to meet the surge in demand. Many of the students are new to shooting; a good indication that gun owners have done a good job educating friends and neighbors who are now beginning get their own training, guns, and CHLs.
There are many plausible explanations for the newfound demand for CHL's. Passing good bills certainly helps. Enactment of SB184, which was signed into law by Governor Strickland and took effect last September established "Castle Doctrine" in Ohio and fixed over a dozen significant problems in Ohio's firearms laws. Media may no longer copy and print lists people with a CHL. There are stories that continue to make it clear that many for too many people, having a gun ready at hand to defend their life allowed them to win a deadly encounter instead of being another statistic.
As we consider the terror attacks in Mumbai India, one wonders if ten individuals with basic weapons could be so dominant in a city where many of the hostages and victims where trained and armed. It seems more people are realizing that their safety and that of their family is too important to trust to chance. For those people, carrying their own gun is an important part of their security plans.
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.
Ohio's concealed carry law works.
Click here for Third Quarter statistics.
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