On April 21, Cleveland was the site of one of the first fatal shootings involving a concealed weapon carry permit.

The April 21 incident occurred when, after being held-up at gunpoint by two teenage boys, Damon Wells, 25, walked a few steps away from his young robbers and then turned and opened fire. One of the robbers, Arthur Buford, 15, was shot several times in the chest, while his accomplice fled, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Buford was declared dead an hour later, after being transported to MetroHealth Medical Center.

Ohio’s first concealed carry law went in to effect April 8, 2004. That year, 45,497 Ohioans received permits to carry concealed handguns in public.

Of the 88 counties in Ohio, Lorain had the fifth highest number of permits issued when the law was passed. 1696 people in Lorain County, which includes Oberlin, received permits that year. That number is twice that of neighboring Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland.

Over the past three years Lorain County has routinely ranked in the top ten percent for permits issued. As of the 2006 report on conceal and carry statistics published by the office of the Ohio Attorney General, 2661 Lorain county residents and over 90,000 Ohio residents have active permits to carry loaded firearms in public. Although statewide just over 0.8 percent of Ohio’s population has permits, within Lorain County nearly 1.5 percent of the citizenry is legally allowed to carry firearms.

The state of Ohio has imposed several restricions regarding where one is legally permitted to carry a firearm. Schools, government buildings and businesses that allow for the dispensation of alcohol on the premises are all exempt from the concealed carry law. Various municipalities have applied further restrictions so as to limit the purview of the law. For example, Toledo has recently applied a restriction of the concealed carry law for amusement parks within the city limits.

Oberlin College policy forbids the presence of concealed weapons by the public on campus property. However, Oberlin’s central location in the city of Oberlin creates an odd situation: Just where does the town, where a permit holder can legally conceal a gun, end, and where does the campus begin?