District of Columbia mayor predicts handgun ban will prevail

WASHINGTON (AP) The mayor of Washington says he thinks the U.S. Supreme Court will let the nation's capital keep its 31-year-old ban on handguns.

Mayor Adrian Fenty says it could be the most important decision involving a municipality in decades. D.C. officials maintain the ban helps keep residents safe.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that will decide whether Washington can legally ban handguns, or whether the city's ban violates the constitutional right to "keep and bear arms." City officials sought the high court's intervention after a federal appeals court struck down the ban as incompatible with the Second Amendment. The main issue before the justices is whether individuals have the right to own guns or if the amendment speaks to the right of states to maintain militias.

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