COLUMBUS — The number of concealed carry licenses issued in Ohio last year reached the lowest count in nearly a decade.
An annual report issued Monday by the attorney general’s office states Ohio sheriffs issued more than 54,400 new licenses to carry concealed handguns in 2019, down 22 percent from the year before.
A total of 1,310 requests for concealed-carry licenses were denied in 2019 for failing to meet eligibility requirements for a regular or temporary emergency license.
The report follows a deadly year for the state after a masked gunman fired off dozens of shots at a nightclub district in Dayton, killing nine people and leaving 27 injured.
A total of more than 132,000 permit requests were approved last year, which included 77,959 permit renewals, 21 percent fewer than the record number of renewals issued in 2018. Concealed-carry permits must be renewed every five years.
County sheriffs began issuing concealed carry licenses in 2004. Each sheriff is required by law to report concealed handgun license statistics quarterly to the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission in the attorney general’s office.