In June 2022, Ohio became the 23rd state to allow individuals to carry a firearm concealed without a permit. The following year, crimes involving guns plummeted, according to the Center for Justice Research, a partnership between the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and Bowling Green State University. The study explored the relationship between permitless carry and crimes involving firearms and concluded that legalizing permitless carry did not increase gun crime. According to the newly published research:A new study shows that six of Ohio’s eight largest cities saw declines in gun crime after the state’s constitutional carry law went into effect.
Two cities, Cincinnati and Dayton, saw increases (five percent and six percent, respectively). “The key takeaway from this study is that we have to keep the pressure on the criminals who shoot people, rather than Ohioans who responsibly exercise their Second Amendment rights,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement about the data. “I genuinely did not know what the study would find,” he added. “I thought it would be useful either way.” “The surest takeaway is that it didn't really have an impact on gun violence,” Yost told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "The change in the law didn't create a Wild West. Society and human beings will continue to change over time, and I think it's worth continuing to watch this,” he said. By the time Ohio’s concealed carry law went into effect, state lawmakers had introduced more than two dozen bills that would impact firearm ownership. Among the proposals were legislation that would prohibit fees or liability insurance to own a gun, a bill prohibiting local governments from contracting with companies that have “discriminatory practices or policies regarding the Second Amendment,” and increasing penalties for criminal offenders found illegally possessing a firearm.
