Changes

==Government==

==Government==

Article I of the Constitution specifies that [[Congress]] has exclusive legislative jurisdiction over the District of Columbia.<ref>http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articlei.html#section8</ref>  In 1973, Congress passed the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, [[P.L.]] 93-198, which proposed a charter that delegated legislative authority to a locally-elected [[mayor]] and [[Council of the District of Columbia|council]]; the charter was approved by local referendum in 1974.<ref>http://government.westlaw.com/linkedslice/default.asp?rs=gvt1.0&vr=2.0&sp=dcc-1000</ref><ref>http://www.narpac.org/ITXICE.HTM</ref>

Article I of the Constitution specifies that [[Congress]] has exclusive legislative jurisdiction over the District of Columbia.<ref>http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articlei.html#section8</ref>  In 1973, Congress passed the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, [[P.L.]] 93-198, which proposed a charter that delegated legislative authority to a locally-elected [[mayor]] and [[Council of the District of Columbia|council]]; the charter was approved by local referendum in 1974.<ref>http://government.westlaw.com/linkedslice/default.asp?rs=gvt1.0&vr=2.0&sp=dcc-1000</ref><ref>http://www.narpac.org/ITXICE.HTM</ref>

[[Image:WashingtonDC1.gif|thumb|200px|A view of the Washington Monument and United States Capital In Washington D.C]] The current mayor of the District of Columbia is Adrian M. Fenty.

[[Image:WashingtonDC1.gif|thumb|200px|A view of the Washington Monument and United States Capital In Washington D.C]]

 

Washington is politically mixed, with [[Democrats]] as the majority, Washington was designated [[United States|America's]] fourth-most liberal city.<ref>http://www.govpro.com/News/Article/31439/</ref> The current mayor of the District of Columbia is Adrian M. Fenty.

 

====Constitutional and legal disputes====

====Constitutional and legal disputes====

On March 9, 2007, the [[United States Court of Appeals]] for the District of Columbia Circuit struck down Washington, D.C.'s ban on private [[handgun]] possession, as it pertains to carrying them inside one's own home, on the grounds that the [[Second Amendment]] guarantees the right of individual citizens to keep and bear firearms.<ref name="Parker">''See Parker v. District of Columbia'', 478 F. 3d 370 (2007) [quoted in ''District of Columbia v. Heller'', 554 U.S. ____ (2008).]</ref>  In a dissent, however, one judge wrote that the District of Columbia is not a [[state]] and therefore the [[Second Amendment]] does not apply within the District of Columbia.  Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban was one of the most restrictive [[gun control]] laws in the nation.<ref>http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2007-03-09T223851Z_01_N09246717_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-GUNS-RULING.xml&src=rss</ref>  On June 26, 2008, the [[Supreme Court]] affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals.<ref name="Heller">''District of Columbia v. Heller'' [http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf]</ref>

On March 9, 2007, the [[United States Court of Appeals]] for the District of Columbia Circuit struck down Washington, D.C.'s ban on private [[handgun]] possession, as it pertains to carrying them inside one's own home, on the grounds that the [[Second Amendment]] guarantees the right of individual citizens to keep and bear firearms.<ref name="Parker">''See Parker v. District of Columbia'', 478 F. 3d 370 (2007) [quoted in ''District of Columbia v. Heller'', 554 U.S. ____ (2008).]</ref>  In a dissent, however, one judge wrote that the District of Columbia is not a [[state]] and therefore the [[Second Amendment]] does not apply within the District of Columbia.  Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban was one of the most restrictive [[gun control]] laws in the nation.<ref>http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2007-03-09T223851Z_01_N09246717_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-GUNS-RULING.xml&src=rss</ref>  On June 26, 2008, the [[Supreme Court]] affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals.<ref name="Heller">''District of Columbia v. Heller'' [http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf]</ref>