Petro Releases First Year Concealed Carry Statistics

Press Release
Ohio Attorney General's Office

May 17, 2005

COLUMBUS - Ohio sheriffs issued 51,998 licenses to carry concealed handguns between April 8, 2004, when the state law went into effect, and March 31, 2005, according to the statistics gathered by Ohio’s Sheriff’s and complied by the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission.

“I am the chief public official charged with implementing this law statewide. My office has undertaken a number of actions pertaining to the concealed carry law, and I am proud of the work my staff has done to ensure its smooth rollout,” Petro said. “In the last year, through the efforts of Ohio’s county sheriffs and our office, tens of thousands of law-abiding citizens have taken handgun safety courses from certified instructors, applied for, and were issued, licenses to carry a concealed handgun.”

Sheriffs must immediately suspend a license if the holder has been arrested or charged with certain offenses, or if the licensee is the subject of a protection order. Within the first full year of the law’s enactment, 71 licenses had been suspended by Ohio sheriffs , who also must revoke the license of persons who no longer meet the eligibility requirements to carry a concealed handgun. Ohio sheriffs revoked 52 regular licenses and 5 temporary emergency licenses. The sheriffs reported that they denied 544 applications because the applicants failed to meet the criteria of the law.

Petro’s office answered thousands of questions from citizens and from law enforcement about the new law, created and maintained new publications, a Web site, and electronic databases required by the statute, processed in a timely fashion a majority of the criminal background checks, and provided in-person and online training and assistance to sheriffs to help them fulfill their obligations under the law.

“Our office formalized reciprocity agreements with 16 other states to allow Ohioans to carry concealed weapons outside our borders, and developed processes to let Probate Courts and hospitals securely report data regarding persons disqualified for medical reasons,” Petro said. “My office also issued two advisory opinions concerning the law and successfully defended it against a court challenge in the Ohio Supreme Court.”

The data does not include those in Ohio who may be carrying a concealed weapon under permits issued by other states.