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[[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]]  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>

License plates in Washington, D.C. read "taxation without representation," referring to the fact that citizens of the District pay federal income taxes but do not have voting representation in either the [[Senate]] or [[House of Representatives]]. <ref>http://dmv.dc.gov/serv/plates/tax.shtm</ref>

License plates in Washington, D.C. read "taxation without representation," referring to the fact that citizens of the District pay federal income taxes but do not have voting representation in either the [[Senate]] or [[House of Representatives]]. <ref>http://dmv.dc.gov/serv/plates/tax.shtm</ref>