Cincinnati, Ohio – An annual report on concealed handgun licensing provided by Attorney General Dave Yost indicates that Ohio issued more than 15,000 new concealed carry permits in 2023. This figure comes despite the legislative change in June 2022, which allowed qualifying Ohioans to carry concealed handguns without the need for a permit.

The state of Ohio issued more than 90,000 permits last year

The study says that a total of 90,582 permits were issued or renewed last year. In particular, Ohio’s county sheriffs issued 15,581 new licenses and renewed 75,001 old ones. This method for renewing is important because permits need to be renewed every five years to stay valid.

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Even though the law has changed, the permitting system is still in place, which shows that Ohioans are still interested in getting and updating concealed carry licenses. This interest could come from a number of sources, such as desire for official approval of the right to carry a concealed firearm or the benefits of having a permit, such as being able to use it in other states.

A study released earlier by Attorney General Yost and the Center for Justice Research at Bowling Green State University shed more light on the effects of the permitless carry law. The report found that the new law did not lead to an increase in violent crime. The study looked at information from eight of Ohio’s largest cities and found that gun-related crimes went down overall in the year after the law was put into place.

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Gun-related crimes went down in most parts of the state

Interestingly, the study found that gun-related crimes were going down across the state, with big drops seen in places like Parma, Akron, and Toledo. Cincinnati and Dayton, on the other hand, were the only places where gun-related crimes went up slightly.

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The goal of this study, which looked at statistics from June 2021 to June 2023, was to find out how the law really affected public safety. The study gives important information about how the law will affect Ohio’s towns by looking at crime rates, gunshot detection alerts, and cases of police officers being shot.