Okay I've gone back through the posts and the following comments are about all I have to add right at the moment.
Ceraldi – DC is a funny place. Big government/Big brother mentality combined with a lot of people who -really do believe- that they are working in the best interests of the country (but who seem to have no real understanding of the "babysitter will take care of me" mentality they are creating). Now add in a dose of the cynics and/or corrupt who DO understand the "take care of me" mentality they are creating and use it to maintain their position/power. Mix it using the spin doctors who are trying to make their group look the best (whoever their group is) and you get this rube goldberg machine that generally runs and does the job but sometimes spits out the weirdest "solutions" to problems entered into it.
Even with all of that though I really can't see any reason why you would be given any grief for having an e2d in DC. Some locations are tighter than others (the Smithsonians, the Capitol, the FBI building) so in some of these places you might simply be told "you can't bring that in here".
Batman- You haven't been to DC have you? I could spend hours trying to explane the "inside the beltway" mentality and probably still couldn't get you to understand the way these people think. (okay, I don't really understand it either, I just know the roadmap and play along so I can work here).
TonkinWarrior- Wish I could argue with you but I can't. Had an aggressive panhandler grab me by the arm once as I was walking home one evening and in a pretty much trained-in response I had him restrained, face down on the ground in a "detention" hold (no bumps, bruises or scratches, I just wasn't letting him move). Okay once I had him there I wasn't about to let him up until the cops arrived and do you know when they got there he tried to get them to arrest ME for assult and some of the crowd that had gathered was –in agreement- with him?!? Fortunately I had witnesses that included one of the external security cameras of a nearby building.
On the other hand that is the only incident of any sort that I've had in 16 years.