May 6, 2004
Zanesville Times Recorder

ZANESVILLE -- More than a hundred residents in Muskingum, Morgan, Licking and Guernsey counties have received their concealed carry weapons licenses, and applications keep coming.

Major Bryan Hoover of the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office couldn't determine who the first person to receive the license was, but 116 have been issued to applicants from those four counties since Tuesday. Fourteen of those were women, including Christie Hall of Zanesville.

Hall, 30, was excited to get her permit after burglars broke into her father's business and assaulted him.

"I had signed up to take the class before what happened to my dad," she said. "I feel we have a right as Americans to have a weapon and be able to bear arms."

Hall's main reason for obtaining a license is to be able to protect herself if there is ever a need.

"I don't carry it with me all the time. But if I go out of town and my car breaks down, I've got my gun for protection," she said. "I don't ever want to use it, and hopefully I won't ever need to."

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This story has been picked up by the Associated Press and is being printed in newspapers across the state.

Permit process takes time

May 08, 2004
Columbus Dispatch

More than 450 conceal/carry licenses have been issued in central Ohio since a new state law took effect one month ago today, but proponents say sheriffs still must do more to ease the application process.

In Franklin County, where 246 permits have been issued, some applicants must wait about a month for an appointment to submit their paperwork, but they then can expect their licenses within a week.

In Delaware County, applicants can turn in their forms immediately but can expect to wait about a month to receive their permits. The first two permits in the county were issued Tuesday.

And in Pickaway County, where no conceal/carry licenses have been issued yet, officials say they likely will need every day allowed. Sheriffs have 45 days to issue or deny permits under the law.

A statewide gun-rights group says the process shouldn’t be so cumbersome.

"A conceal/carry permit shouldn’t be any different than a driver’s license or a marriage license," said Gerard Valentino of Pickerington, regional representative of Ohioans for Concealed Carry.

The group is backing a lawsuit against Franklin County Sheriff Jim Karnes by a woman who was denied a permit for an emergency conceal/carry license. In Cuyahoga County, a lawsuit filed by a group member against Sheriff Gerald McFaul was settled this week when he began accepting applications.

Valentino said gun owners observed the law when Ohio didn’t allow concealed handguns, so sheriffs should do the same now that it does.

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May 8, 2004
Dayton Daily News

The April 8 start of the new concealed-carry law was expected to generate a rush of gun permit applicants, but officials in Montgomery, Miami, Greene and Warren counties say the process is steady and manageable.

"The first day, the computer was overwhelmed, but that was fixed and since then we haven't had any problems," Montgomery County Sgt. Larry Schroeder said.

"We're averaging about 25 a day and there's no line," he said. "It's very swift processing."

Schroeder said the bulk of the initial permit applications came from retired deputies, Dayton police officers, members of the military and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

As of April 30, Montgomery County had received 762 applications and issued 90 permits and Miami County had received 215 applications and issued six permits. Montgomery County began processing applications with the startup of the new law in early April, while Miami County began much later.

Greene County had received 250 applications as of April 27 and issued 54 permits, while Warren County by Wednesday had issued more than 100 permits and taken more than 150 applications.

There were no permit requests rejected in any of the four counties.

Warren County Sheriff Tom Ariss recently told the county commission that the application process is "working out very well. We haven't had any complaints."

Warren County Commissioner Mike Kilburn said the new law was "a long time coming. I think the bad guys will think twice since they now know who's gonna shoot back at them," he said.

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