If you’re a barber in the District, you have to be licensed and regulated by a city board. But if you’re a tattoo artist or piercer, you’re in the clear — currently, the District remains one of the last places in the country in which tattooing and piercing are wholly unregulated. That looks like it will soon change, but how dramatic the change will be is yet to be determined.

As we reported in June, the District remains one of the last places in the country where tattoo and piercing parlors are a wholly unregulated business. That could soon change.

As we reported yesterday, the District remains one of the few places in the country where tattooing and piercing are unlicensed and largely unregulated, a libertarian reality that seems to buck the city’s reputation for being heavy on government regulations. That could change as early as this fall.

In the District, license requirements and regulations come either through the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs or the D.C. Department of Health, both with their related boards and commissions — except when it comes to someone who wants to permanently ink your skin or poke holes through it.