Record Number of Concealed Carry Permits Issued in Ohio Last Year

[image-1]Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced this week that a record number of concealed carry permits had been issued or renewed last year. All told, the state has 158,982 permits in its database, according to recent figures.

That's just under 2 percent of the state's adult population, which, of course, does not account for the number of illegally owned guns out there.

DeWine's office noted that the number includes 117,953 new permits and 40,982 renewed permits. Statistics are compiled quarterly by county sheriff's offices.

(The previous state record was set in 2013 with 145,342 new and renewed permits.)

A 2014 report from the Crime Prevention Research Center stated that some 11.1 million Americans had concealed carry permits — which was up dramatically from 4.5 million in 2007.