Ohio sheriffs’ offices issued more than 32,000 concealed-carry licenses during the first quarter of 2014
– and Wood County accounted for 570 of that total.
These statistics were released Tuesday by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. The office is required by
law to compile a report of the number of licenses issued each year, and receives statistics from
sheriffs’ offices on a quarterly basis.
All told in Wood County, 322 new licenses were issued and 248 were renewed during the first quarter of
this year.
The report also indicates that four licenses were suspended, one was revoked, and six were denied in the
county.
The Ohio Revised Code outlines who may not receive CCW permits, including those who have been convicted
of, or are under indictment for, certain felonies and misdemeanors, including some drug charges;
fugitives from justice; those adjudicated a delinquent child for certain offenses within a particular
period; those determined to be mentally ill or incompetent; and those subject to a civil protection
order, among other restrictions.
CCW applicants must also be 21 years of age.
Ohio saw a massive increase in the number of CCW licenses issued in 2013 – more than 145,000 – over 2012,
when about 77,000 were issued. Wood County saw 2,395 licenses issued last year, up from about 1,200 in
2012, nearly doubling.
Deputy Isaiah Loar of the Wood County Sheriff’s Office, who handles CCW applications for the agency,
previously said that the rise in applications may be linked to factors such as recent high-profile
shootings at schools and other public places, as well as the fact that some individuals are only just
now discovering they have the ability to apply for a concealed-carry permit.