copy a dictionary

In [28]: dct = {'a':1, 'b':2}

In [29]: newDct = dct.copy()

In [30]: newDct
Out[30]: {'a': 1, 'b': 2}

In [31]: id(dct)
Out[31]: 139006540

In [32]: id(newDct)
Out[32]: 139009396