Wealthy DC Residents Arm Themselves

WASHINGTON (AP) ~ Police data shows that since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Washington's handgun ban more than 2 1/2 years ago, hundreds of residents in the District's safest and wealthiest areas have registered handguns -- more than those in poor areas with higher crime.

The Washington Post reports that since the 2008 ruling, records show more than 1,400 firearms have been registered with police.

Among those, nearly 300 are in the high-income, low-crime Georgetown, Palisades and Chevy Chase areas. In the neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River -- a section of the city where many areas are plagued by poverty and violence -- about 240 guns have been registered.

Of the 1,400-plus guns registered, more than 1,000 are handguns, mainly semiautomatics. The rest are rifles and shotguns.

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