WASHINGTON – Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's crusade to scrap the District of Columbia's handgun ban could pay political dividends – but not, she says, by bolstering her chances of being John McCain's running mate.

JOSE LUIS MAGANA/The Associated Press

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who wrote a brief urging the Supreme Court to overturn the D.C. handgun ban, savored Thursday's victory outside the court.

"Great for governor," though, she said, laughing and quickly adding: "Kidding! Kidding!"

She savored a huge gun-rights victory last week on the steps of the Supreme Court. And Texans – particularly the conservatives who so often have been lukewarm to her – value their gun rights.

If she decides to run for Texas governor, they're sure to appreciate her push to overturn the nation's most restrictive gun law, which the high court did in a landmark 5-4 ruling that held, for the first time, that the Second Amendment guarantees individuals the right to bear arms.

Ms. Hutchison had a home on Capitol Hill for many years before moving to suburban Virginia. The district's ban on keeping a weapon at home for self-protection wasn't the reason she moved, but it was a cause for annoyance.

"We have the normal handguns and shotguns that a person who hunts and protects themselves in their home would have," she said.

Through the years, Ms. Hutchison used her perch on the Senate budget-writing panel that controls the district's funds to pressure the city to reverse course on gun control. And early this year, she wrote a brief urging the Supreme Court to overturn the city's handgun ban, attracting support from 54 senators and 250 House members.

"I tried to do what is best for the district. ... We are responsible for the District of Columbia, as the capital," she said.

When the Supreme Court ended its term Thursday with the D.C. gun case, Ms. Hutchison came to the court to bask in the glow of victory and national TV attention. She proclaimed that for her next act, she'll push Congress to codify the ruling, to block the city from trying to skirt it.

Over at City Hall, Mayor Adrian Fenty politely, firmly – and futilely – urged her to back down.

"We have enjoyed a very healthy working relationship with the House and the Senate. ... Our relationship is about a lot of things, but it's pretty much founded on having the Congress deal with federal issues and the city deal with local issues," he said.

Whatever the political payoff for Ms. Hutchison, the court's 5-4 split underscores the stakes this fall.

Mr. McCain signed Ms. Hutchison's brief, and he used the ruling to tweak opponent Barack Obama, who did not.

"Unlike the elitist view that believes Americans cling to guns out of bitterness," Mr. McCain said, the "ruling recognizes that gun ownership is a fundamental right – sacred, just as the right to free speech and assembly."

Mr. Obama said after the court ruling that he, too, believes individuals have constitutional gun rights. But he also expressed sympathy for "crime-ravaged communities," arguing that lawmakers can still crack down on gun shows and improve background checks "so that guns do not fall into the hands of terrorists or criminals."

But the case may make the court itself more of an issue than guns.

Three years ago, the Supreme Court ended its term with another 5-4 case with big resonance in Texas – on displaying the Ten Commandments at public buildings. And the day before ruling on the gun ban, it issued another 5-4 opinion, tossing out laws in Texas, Louisiana and a handful of other states that made rape of a child punishable by death.

"The court is very, very closely divided," said Ted Cruz , who served until recently as Texas' solicitor general, the state's top appellate lawyer. "There is no doubt that the next presidential election could have a marked impact on the court."