by Jim Irvine

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray (D) has released the concealed handgun license (CHL) statistics for the second quarter of 2010. At the end of June, we had an all time record of approximately 199,577 Ohio residents licensed to carry concealed firearms. (See chart)

We are now in our seventh year of concealed carry in Ohio and it is clear that the program is popular, successful and growing. Ohio's law became effective in April of 2004. With that initial surge, the second quarter has remained ahead of other years in terms of the average number of licenses issued. While this year's second quarter demand was lower than last year, when there was a spike following President Obama's taking office, the 14,898 regular licenses were still more than 32% higher than the average second quarter numbers.