Plagued by high homicide rates, officials in the U.S. capital said Monday they will petition the Supreme Court as they seek to defend Washington’s 30-year-old ban on most handguns.
A federal appeals court panel struck down the law in March, rejecting the city’s argument that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which upholds people’s right to bear arms, applied only to militias. The full appeals court refused to reconsider the decision in May. The law has remained in effect during the appeals process.
