Lake County sees influx of concealed weapons applicants; New plans in works to handle excess

PAINESVILLE, Ohio - The Lake County Sheriff's Office is looking for a new way to handle influx of applicants for carrying a concealed weapon licensing. They said renewals also on the rise.

"It's not a question of ease it's a question of proficiency," said Lake County resident Leo Talikka. He has been a fan of the sheriff’s office's first-come, first-served basis for handling concealed carry weapons licensing.

"They’re required to check everything out in which they do. But they just do it in a very, very proficient manner," he said.

Lt. Carl Dondorfer said now they're seeing more applicants than they can serve, especially from Cuyahoga County.

"We actually issued just over 80 permits yesterday, and we had another approximately 20 to 30 standing by who had to register on our sex offender registry, and people there to be finger printed and background checks," Dondorfer said.

CCW licensing is not easy. In addition to attending classes for carrying, there are also FBI and BCI background checks, fingerprinting and other processes to pass before getting a permit.

"There's a lot of violence going on ,a lot of recent issues of school violence and employee business violence. And I think people, especially who own their own businesses, are responsible citizens want to have that sense of security," Dondorfer said, when asked why he believes so many are applying.

Now the Lake County Sheriff’s Office is rethinking the current process and hoping to have a better one in place by next week.

"So we're actually in the process of coming up with an online scheduling program where you can click on the link sheriffdunlap.org , which is our website," Dondorfer said.