Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)

If there’s ever any certain repercussion after a national tragedy, its that politicians will draft a whole bunch of terrible legislation.

According to Politico, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), who we all know and love, is writing a bill which would allow members of Congress to carry guns in and around the Capitol, on the House floor and throughout the District.

Sayeth Gohmert: “It’d be a good thing for members of Congress who want to carry a weapon in the District. I know friends that walk home from the Capitol. There’s no security for us. There is some protection in having protection.”

Where to start? First off, having a gun on the House floor for “protection” doesn’t seem to make much sense. After all, anyone coming in or out of the Capitol goes through a metal detector, so the potential for being shot while in the midst of a heated floor debated is somewhat limited as it is. (Well, I suppose someone could be shot, but it’s more likely that it would be either be an armed Congressperson or a nutjob who walked into the Capitol and accosted an armed representative, relieving him or her of a weapon.)

As for members of Congress who walk home, yes, there is the chance that something could happen to them. But looking at the numbers, they’re way more likely to get mugged by a local teenager than shot by another Jared Lee Loughner. Considering that few, if any members of Congress have gone on the record to complain about their personal safety in the District — hell, don’t many new members now sleep in their offices? — it seems a little much to grant 535 people the right to carry a concealed weapon for the extremely isolated circumstance in which they could be attacked by a crazed constituent. Now if we want to have a city-wide discussion to allow all residents to do so, that’s a different matter.