MIDWEST CONCEALED CARRY GAINS: STATS UP IN MINNESOTA, OHIO

Ohio and Minnesota gun owners picked up or renewed carry permits in record numbers last year. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

New details released in two Midwestern states show that the numbers of those seeking permits to carry a concealed handgun are on the rise.

In Minnesota, the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension reports 66,053 five-year permits to carry were issued in 2018 with another 2,429 applications still listed as “pending,” by regulators. The year ended with some 289,501 valid permits in circulation with Hennepin County, home to Minneapolis, topping the list of counties with 35,291 alone.

According to local media reports, the figures for 2018 were a more than 20 percent jump from the number of permits issued in 2017 when just 55,069 were granted.

Speaking of increases, Ohio saw 69,375 new five-year licenses and a record 98,927 renewals last year according to data from state Attorney General Dave Yost. The renewal rate was up a whopping 83 percent from the year before, noted Yost. For reference, in 2017 only 54,064 permits were renewed.

Former Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, now elected governor, supports concealed carry reform to include national reciprocity. While in his former job, he joined with a group of other state attorneys general to support a U.S. Supreme Court challenge to California’s restrictive “may issue” concealed carry licensing scheme.