(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray today announced that Ohio’s county sheriffs issued a record number of concealed handgun licenses last year.

In 2009 the total number of handgun licenses issued to Ohioans was 56,691, well above the previous high of 45,497, set in 2004 when the concealed handgun law first went into effect.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – In letters sent today to Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. legal counsel, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray urged the automaker to extend its agreement for accommodations with New York’s consumers to the remainder of the country.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Ohio EPA and the office of Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray have reached a settlement with Spectrum Metal Finishing, Inc. of Youngstown after the company installed and operated a major source of air contaminants without the proper permits. The consent order – approved by the Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas – requires the company to install additional pollution control equipment and pay a civil penalty of $420,000.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—In a letter today to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray questioned why Ohio did not receive any of the $1.5 billion of federal foreclosure assistance that was announced last week for five states.

In the letter, Cordray draws a comparison between the Wall Street bailout and the lack of federal assistance for foreclosure-riddled Main Street. 

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray said he is encouraged by yesterday’s federal court ruling granting class certification in the securities litigation against American International Group, Inc. (AIG). The ruling in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York allows shareholders to proceed as a group with their lawsuit against AIG. Cordray issued the following statement:

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — As consumers work to recover from the failings of the financial industry, consumer rights have taken center stage in Ohio and across the nation. In response, Attorney General Richard Cordray is calling on local and state agencies to strengthen programs, pool resources and focus on real time solutions. On Thursday, March 4, Cordray will convene a daylong summit in Columbus with nationally recognized consumer protection experts to focus on Ohio.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray said today that he is encouraged by a federal court’s order approving a $150 million settlement between Bank of America and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Last September, Attorney General Cordray, in concert with five public pension funds, filed a shareholder class action lawsuit alleging securities violations based on many of the same alleged facts at issue in this enforcement action brought by the SEC.  The suit filed by Cordray and other public pension funds is pending before a different judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

(PORTSMOUTH, Ohio)—A Scioto County grand jury has issued a murder indictment with gun specifications against 35-year-old Christopher Hutchinson of Portsmouth in connection with a shooting on Oct. 9, 2009. 

The indictment alleges that Hutchinson fatally shot 43-year-old Carl Smallwood of Greenup, Ky., with a rifle. The shooting occurred outside Hutchinson’s home in Portsmouth.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Many unfair credit card practices once commonplace will be illegal as of next Monday, Feb. 22, when key provisions of a federal credit card law passed last year are set to take effect. Today, Attorney General Richard Cordray urged Ohioans to be aware of their new rights.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – As unemployment numbers stagnate, scammers are finding new ways to exploit those desperately searching for jobs. In response, at a news conference today in Washington D.C., Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray joined David C. Vladeck, Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, to announce a national sweep of job and work-at-home scams fueled by the economic downturn.