Report: With less training required, more central Ohioans file to carry concealed guns

The Columbus Dispatch reported recently that more central Ohioans are filing for licenses to carry concealed guns in Franklin County after the state legislature relaxed training requirements earlier this year. In fact, the article notes the the sheriff has asked the county commissioners to approve hiring additional staff members to keep up with the increased demand.

From the article:

“Legislative changes made it easier for folks to get a (concealed-carry) permit,” said Chief Deputy Rick Minerd. “In the past, if you wanted to get a permit, it sounds like a good idea until you find out you have to get 12 hours training.”

In March, new state rules cut the number of training hours required to obtain a permit from 12 to eight, including six hours of classroom work that can be completed online. Another two hours of shooting instruction are required as well.

Since the new rules took effect, Minerd said, permit applications in Franklin County have spiked.

In the first six months of 2015, the Franklin County sheriff’s office issued, renewed or denied 4,095 permit applications, according to the Ohio attorney general’s office. In all of 2014, it dealt with 6,472 applications.

Statewide, and as reported recently on BuckeyeFirearms.org, applications for licenses have surged 23% since the General Assembly passed HB 234.

Again, from the article:

The high volume of applications coupled with scheduled time off for the county workers who review them has stressed the sheriff’s concealed-carry office, Minerd said.

The office reviews about 300 concealed-carry permits a day. That includes checking for warrants or violations that could result in a license suspension or revocation for current permit holders.

It also schedules about 40 appointments a day for applicants to be finger-printed and have their photos taken for ID cards and to review paperwork.

The office has five full-time-equivalent workers to process those applications and complete checks on current permit holders.

Adding another technician would relieve some of the added work. The sheriff’s office is asking commissioners to approve spending more than $60,000 from the county’s concealed-carry fund to pay for an additional employee through the end of the year and to earmark more money to complete Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation background checks.

About $50,000 would be used for the background checks, with about $10,000 reserved for the new employee.

As of Aug. 27, the county had taken in about $334,000 from concealed-carry permit application fees. In all of 2014, it collected about $397,000.

The article goes on to cite information from area firearms instructors confirming that classes have been filling up since the training requirements were relaxed earlier this year.

“That was one of the big deterrents that kind of held some people off ... the 12 hours,” one intructor told the Dispatch. “A lot of them didn’t want to sit for 12 hours in a classroom.”

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.