The District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said the city has received a total of 38 applications for concealed carry permits since it began accepting them last month.
"We have received 38 completed applications," said Lieutenant Sean Conboy, an MPD spokesman, in an interview with the Free Beacon.
A federal judge declared the city's outright ban on concealed carry unconstitutional in July of this year. In response, the city passed a temporary measure that allows people to apply for concealed carry permits.
The law requires 16 hours of classroom training, two hours of live fire training--but the city has yet to certify any trainers, and the final decision for who receives a permit is at the discretion of the Chief of Police, Cathy Lanier.
The police department began accepting applications under its heavily restrictive new law on October 23rd. The 38 completed applications represent about .0058 percent of the 646,449 people the Census Bureau estimates reside in the city. The 38 applications also include non-DC residents, though police did not provide a breakdown.
A spokesperson for the MPD's Firearms Registration Unit told the Free Beacon that Chief Lanier has 90 days from when each application is submitted to make a final decision on approval. This comes after the department originally said there was no guideline for how long the process would take.
Lt. Conboy, who made the original comments, confirmed the 90-day requirement but said it was not an official written policy.
When asked whether Chief Lanier would appoint a subordinate to review each case he said he was not sure. "With 38 applications she may well do it herself," Lt. Conboy said.
The MPD has not yet approved any of the applications.