Increase in Concealed-Carry Permits in Franklin County

Attorney General Mike DeWine reported that 32,037 licenses were issued in the first quarter of this year. The reported number includes 16,205 new licenses issued and 15,832 renewed, an increase of more than 5,000 permits from the last quarter in 2013. Last year, 145,342 new and renewed licenses were handed out across the state of Ohio, nearly double what it was in 2012. Franklin County led the state’s 88 counties with 5.3 percent of the total licenses awarded — 1,702 so far this year.

The state has been issuing concealed-carry gun permits since April 2004. A bill introduced in the Ohio Senate on March 12, 2014 could prohibit people or entities leasing government property from banning access to people carrying guns. Supporters say the bill is intended to close a loophole that has allowed municipalities to lease land to a private entity so signs could be posted banning concealed firearms from the premises. It remains unclear how the bill would affect facilities where public lease agreements involve the building or land, such as COSI and Nationwide Arena.

The bill also proposes cutting the training time needed to obtain a permit from 12 hours to eight hours, and end the requirement for a two-hour live-firing minimum training.