8,400 murdered in DC since gun ban went into effect

The AP's Stephen Manning spends 26 paragraphs describing the various reactions to yesterday's Supreme Court decision striking down the District of Columbia's handgun ban.

The story's lede:

Washington's blanket ban on handguns will fall and tight gun laws in places like Chicago and San Francisco are sure to come under attack. But most of the nation's firearms regulations will probably stay on the books, and some politicians said Thursday's Supreme Court decision won't hinder their efforts to prevent bloodshed.

He waits until paragraph 23 to tell us that more than 8,400 people have been killed since the ban went into effect in 1976; the vast majority of them with handguns.

Seems the criminals have been ignoring the ban all along.

I'll alert the blogosphere.

Graphs: Washington Post (Nov. 12, 2007): "Homicide Rates in D.C. and Other Major Cities -- Despite a ban on handgun ownership passed in 1976, the District's homicide rate has remained generally higher than those of other cities."