These pretty much all refute your claim about the ineffectiveness of handguns in private ownership at the municipal level. Hardly anecdotal, and hardly exceedingly small.

These are all op-ed pieces, so their un-cited stats are both immediately suspect and functionally worthless as proof of anything. You really should present unbiased peer reviewed scientific study if you're intending to support your opinion. These merely indicate that the authors feel the same way you do. In any case, even if we stipulate the veracity of the stats provided, they don't actually show that handguns effectively prevent crime. They show that crime has risen in some places that have passed gun bans, but that does not prove that gun bans cause an increase in violent crime. It's an unsupported leap of logic as correlation does not prove causation. One of the first rules of statistical analysis.

Well this could turn into pro gun vs anti gun banter real quickly, which is completely unnecessary.

Unnecessary indeed. And you'll hear no anti-gun banter from me, unless you consider anything short of endorsement of gun use to be anti-gun. I oppose laws banning private ownership of firearms. I own firearms myself. I simply think that anyone who believes that carrying on a bicycle is going to ensure their safety is misguided. And I think those who seem to believe that if everyone carried we'd all be safer needs to meet everyone first. I've met a lot of the general public and I can't say I have a whole lot of confidence in their ability to make correct decisions in a split second under great pressure. But if y'all believe that carrying will make you safe, by all means go for it. I'll just try and keep my distance.