Ohio has a Record year for CCW Permits in 2008

While Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson is hell bent on taking away the rights of legal gun owners, Ohio Attorney General Dick Cordray just released the Ohio Concealed Handgun Law - 2009 Annual Report which shows a spike in demand for CCW licenses. Expecting attacks on our 2nd Amendment by the Obama administration, the spike in CCW permits and gun sales have a direct correlation with his election.

And guess what? All the screaming, crying, & there will be shoot-outs in the street if people are allowed to carry guns arguments were for naught. As predicted, the only people out there shootin' up the streets were the criminals - NOT the legal gun owners and CCW permit holders who were just acting in self-defense.

From Buckeye Firearms --

The Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray (D) has released the concealed handgun license (CHL) statistics for the fourth quarter of 2008 and the year-end report, Ohio Concealed Handgun Law - 2009 Annual Report. Just as we have seen a spike in demand for guns, we see a strong surge in concealed carry applications from people who want to carry a concealed weapon (CCW).

The fourth quarter has generally been a good quarter for licenses issued, but demand in the waning months of 2008 was stronger than anyone expected. The 10,668 regular licenses issued was an unprecedented 111% increase over the same period a year earlier. There were more licenses issued in the last three months of 2008 than the last quarter of 2006 and 2007 combined. It is also the highest demand for new licenses since the 3rd quarter of 2004, the first full quarter the CCW law was in effect.

Additionally, approximately 78% of expiring CHLs (5,476) were renewed in the fourth quarter. That means 265 people received a new license to carry a firearm every working day. New licenses averaged over 175 every business day – stronger demand than any quarter in the last 4 years!

In 2008, there were 33,864 regular licenses issued. That is a whopping 53% increase over last year, which was sharply up from the year prior. Issuances of Temporary Emergency Licenses (TELs) also doubled for the quarter, bringing the year to date total to 73 TELs issued. Adding in the renewals, Ohio's sheriffs issued 65,256 licenses to carry concealed handguns last year.

That number not only sets a new record, it shatters the old record of 45,562 licenses issued with a greater than 43 percent increase. While the prior record was only a partial year, it was also the first year the law was in effect. Typically the first year is the busiest time ever for issuances of concealed carry permits or licenses, due to the initial surge after a state passes the self-defense law. But there were even more licenses handed out per day last year in Ohio than the first year the concealed carry program was in effect....