Tattoo and piercing parlors in the District have long gone unregulated, but not for much longer. Legislation sponsored by seven D.C. councilmembers and Council Chair Kwame Brown seeks to regulate an industry that's already regulated in most states.

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The new rules would institute minimum health standards at tattoo and piercing parlors, limit people under 18 from getting needled or poked, and require tattoo artists and parlors to be licensed, DCist reports today.

Given that the parlors have long existed and operated unlicensed without trouble, some are wondering if the regulations are unnecessary.

“It’s another way for the government to make money off of people. It’s a way to put their hands in another till,” Matt Knopp, owner of Tattoo Paradise in Adams Morgan, told DCist yesterday.

Considering the District’s current money woes, we can’t say that's too far fetched.