Chicago schools and handgun bans

So, in addition to city schools underperforming other schools around them, in Chicago there's been a rash of student killings.

The NPR story links to audio; they report 22 students killed this year, 20 of them with handguns.

The handguns statistic is interesting. There have been the usual calls for gun control in the wake of the shootings, but considering that the city of Chicago bans private ownership of handguns, it doesn't seem that the prohibition against handguns has reduced violence.

Banning the tools of self defense only requires law abiding citizens to be defenseless. Time and time again this is proven, and stories like this continue.

Self defense is a civil right.

Rather than preventing people from defending themselves, how about politicians do something about the causes of crime in the first place?

Even an attempt at enforcing the law against those committed to breaking it would be a refreshing change, rather than focusing on inanimate objects. Then again, that might require actual work rather than feel-good bloviating. Who cares how many die, so long as everyone feels like their doing something worth while?