Photo by Sarah Anne Hughes.

Mayor Vincent Gray called for stricter gun laws nationwide as he made a forceful address at a ceremony to mark the one-year anniversary of the Navy Yard shooting.

But as Gray called for “real gun control in the United States of America,” he noted that D.C.’s gun laws may have to be “relaxed” in the face of a court ruling that deemed the city’s ban on carrying handguns in public unconstitutional. Gray, Council Chair Phil Mendelson and Councilmember Tommy Wells are expected to unveil emergency legislation to deal with the ruling today.

“For me, it’s a wound that remains fresh,” Gray said of the shooting, which claimed the lives of 12 people. “Residents of our city lost friends and neighbors; they lost mothers and fathers; they lost colleagues and they lost fellow church members.” He also praised the bravery of the first responders who “answered the call that day without hesitation.”

“Our country is drowning in a sea of guns,” Gray said, repeating a statement delivered at last year’s memorial with President Obama. “Sadly, it remains true today.”

Gray cited the death of 51-year-old Arthur Daniels, whose 14-year-old son was murdered on the streets of D.C. four years earlier.

“Senseless gun violence like this is an all-too fact of life here in the District of Columbia and in the nation’s big cities. But it’s a fact of life that we need to stop accepting,” Gray said. “Why is it that these tragic occurrences never seem to move us any closer to ensure that guns don’t get in the hands of criminals or people who are mentally unstable?”

“I refuse to be silent that the time for passion is now, ladies and gentleman,” Gray said, calling for a “holistic solution” to the problem.

But the already “tough” gun laws in D.C. will “probably have to be relaxed to some extent,” Gray said, because of the recent ruling.

“Those laws are tough laws, and the laws of others are now under attack by Second Amendment advocates who believe in putting the rights of gun owners before community safety,” Gray continued, decrying how gunman Aaron Alexis was able to legally buy weapons in Virginia.

“Guns are not the answer, ladies and gentlemen. Guns would not have saved the victims of the Navy Yard.”