D.C lost track of 36,000 guns

Apparently, the gun-control wizards in Washington, D.C. have lost track of 36,000 out of the 41,000 guns registered before the 1976 gun ban.

D.C. interim Attorney General Peter J. Nickles said Tuesday that the city needs to "get a handle on" the whereabouts of thousands of handguns that were registered in the District before its 32-year ban took effect.

"The presence of guns in the District is a matter of great concern," Mr. Nickles said during a "Live Chat" session with The Washington Times. "This concern was at the heart of the handgun ban."

Really? The "presence of guns" was such a "matter of great concern" that you couldn't even keep track of 36,000 of the legal ones? What the heck were you guys doing the last 32 years?

The Metropolitan Police Department is unable to account for about 36,000 of the 41,000 handguns that were registered before the weapons were banned in 1976, Chief Cathy L. Lanier said Monday.

Just goes to show you how useless these stupid registration requirements are. Of course, D.C. aims to put up more hoops for the law-abiding to jump through:

In addition to repealing the gun ban and certain safe storage requirements, [D.C. Council member] Mr. Mendelson's bill would institute a waiting period for residents registering guns and require police to make a ballistics profile for every registered gun.

Mr. Nickles said the District also is considering handgun education as part of the "regulatory framework" that will be released next week. [emphasis added]

Sigh.