A variety of holsters are on display at Hesseling & Sons Firearms and Gunsmithing’s new location at 3787 Elida Road in Lima. Permitless concealed carry in Ohio has not brought increased gun violence with it so far, according to a January report.
Craig Kelly | The Lima News
LIMA — It has been almost two years since Ohio became the 23rd state to enact a permitless carry law (PCL), codifying the right for Ohio citizens to carry a concealed firearm without qualifying for and obtaining a concealed carry permit. In that time since that law was enacted on June 13, 2022, the question remained as to what the long-term consequences of this policy change would be when it comes to firearm incidents and gun crime. However, a new study looking at these trends immediately before and after the new law maintains that this policy’s effect has been minimal in these areas.
According to a study published in January by the Ohio Attorney General Office’s Center for Justice Research, crime incidents involving a firearm decreased from June 2021 to June 2023 in six out of Ohio’s largest eight cities: Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, Akron, Canton and Parma. Parma saw the greatest reduction in gun crime at 22 percent, followed by Toledo and Akron at 18 percent each. Dayton and Cincinnati were the two cities to show a slight increase in gun-related crime during that time, increases of six and five percent, respectively.
“Our observations of the trends pre- and post-PCL lead us to surmise that to date, the effects of the PCL are minimal on crime rates involving firearms, number of shots detected,” the report said, “and law enforcement officer injuries and deaths and generally show a decrease.”
A local perspective
When it comes to the impact of the PCL in this region, the effect has been equally minimal, according to area law enforcement.
“The people who have decided to take on that responsibility [to carry a concealed firearm] have really thus far been very responsible gun owners and we’re hoping that trend continues,” Lima Police Chief Angel Cortes said. “As far as the [gun crime] numbers that we’re able to capture, we haven’t seen it tilted either way. It’s pretty much status quo.”
The trend of gun violence in Lima was discussed at a forum held in December, with Cortes and Lima Mayor Sharetta Smith noting that shootings in the city have been showing a downward trend in recent years, with numbers in shootings, gun-related homicides and hospitalizations and calls for suspected gunfire showing slight declines from 2020 to 2023.
When it comes to the Allen County Sheriff’s Office, permitless concealed carry has not had an impact on its work as random gun violence is not what deputies typically encounter, according to Maj. Andre McConnahea.
“For us, the vast majority of our firearm-related crime or violence when someone’s actually injured is usually a domestic or personal incident, some sort of personal dispute,” he said. “There’s no law in the world that is going to bring that down.”
Auglaize County Sheriff Michael Vorhees expressed a similar opinion.
“We’re a pretty rural county,” he said. “We haven’t run into a lot of those kinds of crimes.”
One local effect
While day-to-day law enforcement may not be affected by permitless concealed carry to this point, one area where the new law has made an impact is in the number of permit applications area sheriff’s offices are receiving.
“I know before that law came into effect, I was signing anywhere from 40 to 60 [applications] a month as far as new ones or renewals,” Vorhees said. “We’re probably down to about half of that right now with mainly renewals, and keep in mind, it’s not just for Auglaize County. I can sign for any adjacent county.”
The Allen County Sheriff’s Office has seen a similar decline in applications and renewals, McConnahea said.
“Between 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, we averaged 622 new licenses issued [per year],” he said. “In 2022, we issued 273.”
Permit renewals have also dropped from an average of 850 to 950 renewals annually from 2018 to 2021 to 540 renewals in 2022. However, while many gun owners may not feel the need to obtain or renew a permit now, there are still situations where a permit is beneficial, such as traveling across state lines to states where a permit may still be required.
“As close as we are to the Indiana state line or being a stone’s throw from Kentucky and Michigan, I always tell people, ‘If you’re not sure, get it,’” Vorhees said. “I’d hate to see you go across the state line and think you’re covered and you’re not.”
Additional advice
Permitless concealed carry has not had a significant impact on how officers and deputies conduct their work, according to Cortes, McConnahea and Vorhees, as they are trained to approach every situation assuming the subject they are approaching may be armed.
“The officers are always at their highest alert level regardless if there’s a legal firearm or an illegal firearm,” Cortes said. “They are not labeled. The officers don’t know, so they approach every call with caution, and that includes from the simple traffic stop to a serious domestic violence call if there’s a firearm present.”
One common piece of advice offered to those considering carrying a firearm is to get trained in how to use a firearm safely and how to properly follow gun safety laws.
“We still encourage people to take a concealed carry class so they can have a really good grasp on the laws that apply to them whether they’re going to go for their permit for concealed carry or whether they’re going to exercise their constitutional carry rights,” Gennifer Hesseling, marketing director for Hesseling & Sons Firearms and Gunsmithing in Lima, said.
People starting to carry concealed should also be mindful of situations where carrying a firearm might be detrimental, and that goes beyond watching for gun-restricted areas, according to McConnahea.
“Let’s say a person goes to a bar — not intoxicated — and has their firearm with them in the car or wherever, and they leave the bar intoxicated and strap that same firearm back to their side, it’s obviously a problem,” he said. “And it’s not always done to be malicious and I’m not saying they’re going to commit a crime, but to be intoxicated and possess it, it’s still a crime.”
McConnahea also reminded gun owners to not leave a firearm visible in their vehicle, as that could lead to gun theft.
Cortes stressed that, while people have the right to carry a firearm and that right should be respected, gun owners also need to carefully consider the responsibility that comes with carrying it.
“The person really needs to think, ‘What are the legal ramifications if I use this firearm?,’” Cortes said. “Carrying a firearm is one thing. Removing it from your holster and using it against another person or pointing it at another person brings a whole different set of possible ramifications, so they need to think about if they’re prepared to deal with that.”
