Photo by Bullneck

Tragedies offer both moments of reflection and political posturing. Yesterday’s shooting at the Holocaust Museum has already produced some of the latter with regards to the District’s gun laws.

In the wake of the shooting, three members of the D.C. Council released statements in which they argued that the incident at the museum underscored the need for gun regulations in the District. Council members Michael A. Brown (I-At Large) and Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) both linked the shooting to a controversial amendment gutting the city’s gun laws that was attached to the D.C. House Voting Rights Act by Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.). Brown said, “Today’s event should be a wake-up call for why we must work to fend off the controversial gun amendment that was most recently attached to the D.C. Voting Rights Act, and will certainly resurface as part of future legislation.” Council Chairman Vincent Gray also chimed in: “It’s hard for me to realize why anyone would want to make this an easier place to have guns. If anything, it should be more secure,” he said.

Predictably, gun-rights advocates have fired back. The D.C. GOP issued a press release today in which Chairman Robert Kabel took Mendelson to task for his comments. “To suggest that yesterday’s tragedy could somehow be associated with the Ensign Amendment is a disgrace,” said Kabel.

What do you think about these attempts to link yesterday’s tragedy with the political battle over D.C.’s gun laws?