[legion]

IIRC, the ban in Chicago is the result of the combination of two things:

All hand guns in the city must be registered.

Registration, by executive order of the mayor at the time, Jane Byrne, of new handguns was closed in 1981.

So yes, if you have a registered handgun before 1981, or you are a cop, or a retired cop, or (and I'm not sure how this works) you are a private security guard, you can own a handgun. But no one else can. It has all but eliminated shootings in the city.