By Michael D. Clark
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Firearms safety instructor Ray Meyer at Great Oaks school shows how to safely hold and point a handgun (a replica) during the first of three classes that teaches those who want a concealed-carry license how to handle a weapon. The Cincinnati Enquirer/CRAIG RUTTLE

Sheriffs in Greater Cincinnati have distributed hundreds of applications to people who want to carry concealed firearms and instructors have been flooded with Ohio gun owners who want to take training to get such a license.

But officials said they still don't know what to expect Thursday, the first day county sheriffs can start processing requests for Ohioans who want to be licensed to carry a concealed gun.

"We could have a trickle or a flood of applicants," said Clermont County Sheriff A.J. Rodenberg.

In Warren County, Sheriff Tom Ariss, whose office will not distribute applications until Thursday morning, said the day "will be a significant day in law enforcement."

In January, Ohio become the 37th state to enact a law allowing residents who pass a gun safety course and a criminal and mental competency background check to carry a concealed handgun. Kentucky and Indiana are among states with similar laws.

The issue of concealed weapons has been intensely debated in Ohio and in Cincinnati, where a state law banning them was challenged in court.

LICENSE INFORMATION

License informationThe state's concealed-carry gun law, which starts Thursday, requires each of Ohio's 88 county sheriff's offices to provide applications for and do background checks on people seeking a license to carry a concealed firearm. The state Attorney General's Office suggests those interested in applying for a license to call their local sheriff's department.  Hamilton County: Web site or 946-6400.  Clermont County: Web site or 732-7500.  Warren County: Call 695-1280.  Butler County: Call 785-1000.  Ohio Attorney General: Web site Call (614) 466-4320.

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• Q&A on concealed carry law

As state and county officials have waded through Ohio's law preparing for Thursday, waves of applicants have already started the process of trying to get a permit.

In recent weeks, classrooms at schools, private shooting ranges and gun clubs have been inundated with gun owners wanting to enroll in mandated firearms training. In the last month more than 350 people have graduated from a 12-hour firearm training course at Butler Tech, a vocational and adult education school in Butler County.

At the Target World gun store and shooting range in Hamilton County, classes are booked into June and this week, at nearby Great Oaks school in Sharonville, gun owners quickly filled up that school's first series of classes.

The law requires sheriffs to issue the license and conduct background checks. But exactly how each will do that may vary by department.

Clermont County sheriff's officials have already distributed more than 500 applications.

Hamilton County, fearing long lines, requires applicants to schedule an appointment, estimated to take about 30 minutes. As of Tuesday, the sheriff's office has set up 114 appointments through April 23.

"We couldn't control it if everybody just showed up at once," said sheriff's spokesman Steve Barnett.

'Everybody is watching us'

Ray Meyer, range master for Great Oaks' Police Academy, made clear the historic impact of the new law for the first 24 adult students in his first training class Monday on the school's Sharonville campus.

"I hate to refer to you folks as guinea pigs, but you're guinea pigs," Meyer said. "Everybody is watching us and everybody is going to be watching you, so I hope you use your heads out there."

One student, Gene Benson, said Ohio is overdue in its conceal carry law. The 66-year-old Loveland man has been sport shooting since he was a teen and said he wants the new license even though he doesn't plan on carrying a handgun on a regular basis.

"But if something happens and I have to go out into the middle of the night, I like to have a licensed gun for protection," he said. Fellow classmate Donald Cress of Warren County's Deerfield Township, a wheelchair-bound 68-year-old, said he and his disabled wife have been targeted by thieves in the past.

"They pick you out because you are in a wheelchair, so I want the license to protect me and my family," said Cress. "I'm not looking to kill someone. I just want to stop them."

E-mail mclark@enquirer.com