D.C. Hangun Registrations Slanted Toward Well-to-Do

Today's Washington Post reports something that should really be no surprise - that the vast majority of handgun registrations in D.C. since Heller are to the well-to-do.

In the 2½ years since the U.S. Supreme Court ended the District's handgun ban, hundreds of residents in Washington's safest, most well-to-do neighborhoods have armed themselves, registering far more guns than people in poorer, crime-plagued areas of the city, according to D.C. police data.

The rules for registration are so cumbersome, and so expensive, those who really need to own a firearm really can't afford the process which in many cases cost as much as a firearm.

In the 20016 Zip code, encompassing some of the District's wealthiest enclaves in upper Northwest, 151 firearms have been registered. That is more than 10 percent of the citywide gun total in an area with about 14,000 households, according to U.S. Census data.

In the District's poorest, most crime-scarred precinct, Ward 8 in far Southeast, residents have registered about 140 guns. In Ward 3 in upper Northwest, where the violent-crime rate is nearly 10 times lower and the average family income is more than five times higher, about twice as many firearms have been registered.

As with most registration schemes, the rules are made to discourage people from dealing with the various hoops one has to jump through, which is what the political leadership of the district wants.