Photo by geoff.greene

In yesterday’s Morning Roundup, DCist noted that Washington Times Senior Editor Emily Miller was reporting on the process of getting a gun in D.C. by going through it herself.

Later that afternoon, TBD’s Ryan Kearney parodied Miller’s first-hand account, prefacing his spoof by calling Miller’s attempt to buy a gun “willfully ignorant.”

Here’s an excerpt from Miller’s story, titled “MILLER: Inside D.C.’s gun registry:”

The D.C. Gun Registry office is not where you go for help getting a legal gun; it’s where you go to get more confused by bureaucracy.

After going thorough the magnetometers at D.C Police headquarters on Wednesday, the first door I saw said “GUN REGISTRY.” That was easy, I thought. I went through the glass doors and entered a narrow office with a desk in front manned by a single female unformed police officer.

“I’m here to get a gun,” I told her. I was the only one there. Her name tag said “D.A. Brown.”

“You want to register your gun?” Officer Brown asked.

“No, no, I don’t have a gun yet. I mean I’m here to get a gun permit,” I said.

“This is D.C., you can’t get a gun permit. You can’t be carrying a gun around with you. It’s for home protection,” she said. I was totally confused. I asked what was the difference. “You can’t carry it around like I do,” she said, pointing at the gun in her holster. “You can’t get a license. You can buy a gun and register it.”

Here’s an excerpt from Kearney’s post, titled “KEARNEY: Inside D.C.’s motor vehicle registry:”

The D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles is not where you go for help getting a legal motor vehicle; it’s where you go to get more confused by bureaucracy.

After going through the heavy glass doors at the Shops at Georgetown Park on Thursday, then descending to the lower level, I saw a window decal that read “DC DMV.” That was easy, I thought. I went through the glass doors and entered a long line behind a desk manned by a single female in a white blouse.

“I’m here to get a car,” I told her, when I finally got to the front of the line. I was one of many people there. Her name tag said, “R.U. Syrius.”

“You want to register a car?” Syrius asked.

“No, no, I don’t have a car yet. I mean I’m here to get a car registration,” I said.

“But you don’t have a car yet?”

“That’s correct.”

“This is D.C., you can’t get a car registered without a car. And you can’t be driving a car around without a registration,” she said. I was totally confused. I asked her if this was like a chicken-or-egg situation. “No,” she said, “this is not a chicken-or-egg situation. This is the DMV. You can’t buy a car here, and you can’t get a registration if you don’t have a car. You can buy a car and register it.”

Comments on Kearney’s post weren’t favorable, and it seems like a few people believed he had reported on an actual experience at the DMV. Kearney chimed in to dispel the misperception. What do you think about the post?