Twenty-five states have passed laws that now allow people to carry a concealed weapon without a permit, but some states are pushing to remove concealed carry permits.

On June 13, Ohio will become the 23rd state to have a constitutional carry law, which means anyone over the age of 18 can carry a gun without undergoing training or a permitting process, but background checks are still required. If an officer in the state sees someone with a concealed firearm, he or she cannot ask if that person is authorized to carry it, but if an officer asks if that person has a weapon on them, they cannot lie, otherwise it is a misdemeanor crime.

Researchers say there is not enough data to speculate on these laws’ impacts on gun violence, but there is enough data to show its impacts on officer-involved shootings.

A recent study from Johns Hopkins University found that the average rate of officer-involved shootings increased by 12.9% in 10 states that had relaxed restrictions on concealed carry laws between 2014 and 2020.

“We want an officer to approach a situation with a certain amount of confidence and when you have a change in the law like this, that allows people to carry weapons with no permit, it puts our officers at a potential to underreact or to overreact,” said Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey of the Hamilton County Sheriff Office, which oversees Cincinnati as part of its jurisdiction.

Before the Ohio statute was made into law, McGuffey was an outspoken opponent of the bill.

“The stakes are high here because we’re talking about public safety and the safety of officers on the street,” she said.

Craig Bryan is a professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Ohio State University and has spent decades studying how guns affect the human psyche. He says preliminary findings from a new study suggest people who carry weapons see the world as more dangerous and, therefore, perceive threats more consistently than those who do not carry weapons.

“When someone is in physical possession of a firearm, the more likely they are to detect threats within the environment, even if there isn’t a threat around. They misinterpret cues as dangerous,” he said.

Bryan says this is known as anticipatory anxiety, or fear and worry about the future. It can happen when people expect big news, before a performance, or, as Bryan suggests, when a law enforcement official approaches a civilian on the street. Under Ohio's new law, any number of them might be carrying a weapon that the officer now cannot know about unless he or she asks.

“You know, when you hear of officers who have been involved in police shootings, oftentimes you hear them saying ‘I thought I saw a gun, I thought I was in danger, I thought they were pointing a weapon at me,’” said Bryan. “That’s entirely consistent with this finding that there’s something about carrying the firearm that increases this vigilance.”

“We’re training officers to be very careful not to overreact,” added McGuffey. “We’re training officers to be extra vigilant. We’re training officers to create conversations around weapons now because that’s what we can do.”

HAMILTON, Ohio —

Two men are dead after a series of bizarre events that began with a crash and ended with one man being shot to death by police.

The crash was between two cars on Fairgrove Avenue in Hamilton.

Witnesses said they saw something unusual right away with a man who was standing outside of one of the vehicles.

“When I was coming up the road, he was pulling something out of that car,” said Jeff Black, who pulled up just after the crash.

It turned out that something was someone.

At first, I thought it was a quilt or something like that, but it was actually the person.” Black said.

Black, who is a long-time mail carrier, was on his way home from work.

“I'm getting ready. Call 911. He takes off going up the road, Route 4, heading east, and so I decided to follow him,” Black said.

Black stayed on the phone with 911 dispatchers helping to guide police to Morris Road, where the suspect stopped.

Other witnesses called 911, telling dispatchers the man had a gun, but Black was unaware of the weapon.

Police arrived on the scene.

“They asked him to drop it, put the gun down, drop it,” Black said. “That's when I knew he had a gun.”

The man took off into the woods.

He reappears about a half mile away on Tara Brooke Court when police said he confronted two Hamilton police officers. Few details have been released on the altercation, but the officers shot the man to death.

The officers have been put on administrative leave.

No names have been released.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Authorities in Tennessee say a man shot and killed by nine members of law enforcement on Interstate 65 Thursday did not have a gun on him when he pulled his hand out of his pocket during a standoff.

Within hours of the shooting, the Metro Nashville Police Department released body camera footage of what happened before 37-year-old Landon Eastep died.

According to the department, Eastep had the box cutter in his left hand and his right hand in his pocket while officers were negotiating with him in the lanes of I-65 north near Harding Place.

A trooper with the Tennessee Highway Patrol stopped to check on Eastep when he saw him on the shoulder of the interstate.

An off-duty Mt. Juliet Police officer driving with his family pulled over to help the trooper before backup law enforcement arrived at the scene.

"Look, I don't have a damn vest on, and I still stopped on the interstate because I want you to go home today," the Mt. Juliet Police officer was heard saying on body camera video. "I don't want you dead on the side of the interstate. Nobody wants that. These folks right here they've got kids. Look, I've got kids in the car, kids standing by. Don't give them that show, brother."

After talking for 30 minutes, police say Eastep made an abrupt motion and pulled his right hand out of his pocket while holding a "silver shiny cylindrical object" that Metro Nashville police have now said was not a firearm.

"C'mon, brother, just drop the knife, get your hand out your pocket," the Mt. Juliet officer is heard telling Eastep. "If that's a gun, what you've got in there, don't worry, we'll figure it out, we'll fix it! I'm not too worried about that right now. I'm worried about you. I'm worried about you, Landon. Come on, brother, just drop it. I know you can do it. I know you want to do the right thing here, and this is your chance."

Eastep is then seen on the body camera footage pulling his right hand out of his pocket and pointing an object at officers.

"Landon, come on, brother. Landon, please, brother, don't do it. No, no, no, no!"

Nine law enforcement officers then fired their weapons, killing Eastep. Six were Metro Nashville Police officers, two were THP troopers, and one was an off-duty Mt. Juliet Police officer.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is now handling the case.

This is the fifth officer-involved shooting the agency has investigated in 2022.

There were 55 in 2021, ten of which were in Metro Nashville.

According to police department spokesman Don Aaron, the MNPD will also be conducting an internal review of the shooting.

Aaron Cantrell and Bethany Davison at WTVF first reported this story.

Nearly two months after the killing of George Floyd, protesters continue to march in cities nationwide. Many are demanding a change in how the country polices.

"I think the murder of George Floyd was a watershed incident," said Sue Rahr, a 36-year law enforcement veteran.

Rahr worked her way up the ranks to the sheriff of King County, home to Seattle. The final years of her career have been with the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (WSCJTC), where she serves as executive director.

"Because there was no way to explain it away by a rapidly-evolving situation with split-second decision making, it wasn't that. What it portrayed was just a callous disregard for a human being," said Rahr.

When Rahr came to the state's centralized training academy, she brought with her a new mindset.

"We talk more about looking at yourself as a guardian of the community, rather than a warrior coming in to fight a war."

Rahr says recruits still learn the skills of a warrior, from firearms to defensive tactics. However, she believes this is just one piece of a complex equation.

"We talk about the importance of procedural justice, communication, emotional intelligence, all of those things that contribute to building trust," said Rahr.

De-escalation tactics are at the forefront of training.

"The use of good patrol tactics to control the pace of the event increases the likelihood of a favorable outcome. It's not always going to be the case because we're dealing with human beings. But on the side of the police, what we're trying to give them is the tools, the tactics, the strategies to slow the pace down," said Sean Hendrickson, program manager for de-escalation training for the State of Washington.

Early on, recruits learn that discretion is a critical part of their job.

In one training exercise, a man is caught shoplifting diapers and formula. Officers learn the man has no criminal history, recently lost his job, and stole the items in a moment of despair for his newborn child. While officers were in their rights to arrest him, recruits were told to use critical thinking to find other ways within the law to proceed.

"Doing some of that due diligence, being able to call the manager, tell him the story, tell him what's going on. Offer some solutions and then go from there," a training officer said during the exercise. "He did break the law, and you have the legal authority to arrest him. But just because you can doesn't mean you should."

But training at the academy only goes so far.

"Once we send them out of here, they're going to an agency that may have a different culture, which culture is deep-seated. They may have a different outlook on training," said Hendrickson.

A new state law hopes to address this problem. Hendrickson is now leading the effort to teach enhanced de-escalation tactics to recruits and veteran officers statewide.

"The real goal is from day one of starting the academy, until the day you retire, you get one consistent message. And as far as I know, at least in this state, that has never been done before," said Hendrickson.

The new law also tackles another complex layer of policing.

"In my experience, 10 years ago, all of us in law enforcement, myself included, were very uncomfortable talking about race," said Rahr.

With help from professors from the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the training commission is developing an extensive curriculum on the history of race and policing. It aims to educate new and veteran officers on the historical roots of how the system is structured.

"If a community has a belief system based on its history, we as law enforcement need to understand what contributes to that belief system so that we can break down the barriers and build a relationship with the community," said Rahr.

As efforts to de-fund the police gain momentum nationwide, Hendrickson worries training budgets will be the first to go.

"Police officers need more training, but that requires time and money, and probably not the message most people want to hear," he said.

The state of Washington requires 720 hours of training at the academy; compare that to 1,600 hours needed to get a cosmetology license in the state.

"My opinion is that police officers are woefully under-trained to meet the expectation, the current expectation, of the community," said Hendrickson.

But with the nation's deep wounds reopened, he's hopeful the state's new training efforts could one day help in healing.

"It's very early in the process, and I believe we will be successful," he said.

SUNMAN, Ind. — Officials in Ripley County are investigating a shooting that involved police on Sunday after a man was shot dead on CR-900 near Sunman, Indiana.

Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, public information officer with the Indiana State Police, said no officers were injured in the shooting. The incident happened around 9 a.m. on Sunday.

During a press conference, Wheeles said the shooting stemmed from a domestic incident he described as serious. Officers were able to get a woman safely out of a home when 37-year-old Joshua Ebinger came out of the house and pointed a gun at police, Wheeles said. Shots were fired and the man was struck and declared dead at the scene.

"There was a restraining order the female had against the male and the officers had that info, that he was violating that restraining order, and there was also some allegations that he was suicidal and had a gun in his possession," said Wheeles.

An Indiana State Trooper and a Ripley County deputy both opened fire, according to Indiana State Police. Officials have not released the names of the officers; both are on administrative leave while the investigation is ongoing.

GHENT, Ky. — One man is dead after a shooting in Gallatin County early Sunday morning.

According to the Gallatin County Sheriff's office, the man shot at several officers somewhere on Montgomery Road. Officers then returned fire and shot the man.

The man was taken to Carroll County Memorial Hospital in Carrollton, where he was pronounced dead. There were no other injuries reported.

Kentucky State police are investigating the incident.