One of the tragedies of tragedies is that some politicians just can’t resist the urge to use them for political gain. The Tucson shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords first inspired liberals to score points against the tea party and is now inspiring a new round of political calls for gun control.

Within days of the Arizona tragedy, New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn McCarthy renewed her call for a ban on high-capacity clips and said she’ll reintroduce legislation. She’s been joined by fellow New York Rep. Peter King, one of the only outspoken Republicans on gun control, who said he wants a new law that would make it a crime to knowingly carry firearms within 1,000 feet of high-ranking officials (which conveniently includes congressmen.) In the Senate, New Jersey Democrat Frank Lautenberg intends to pursue parallel legislation to Ms. McCarthy’s on clips that carry more than 10 rounds of ammunition. And New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has piped up, again, in favor of expanding the sort of burdensome restrictions his city places on the Second Amendment to the nation as a whole.

Gun control groups are also hoping to wring something out of the disaster, with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence already arranging to meet with dozens of congressional offices in hopes of getting them to support Ms. McCarthy’s ban. The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence issued a statement insisting that the “tragedy was both predictable and inevitable” given America’s “weak gun laws.” The group then called for government to “institute policies that prioritize public safety and human life over gun industry profits.”

The problem for the opportunists is that they are engaging this debate at a time when the country has turned more firmly away from gun-control arguments. Americans have learned the hard way that onerous government restrictions (on high-capacity clips, or “assault” rifles) only burden the law-abiding, while failing to stop criminals or the mentally ill from obtaining weapons or doing great harm. A CBS News poll, taken after the Tucson event, showed that most Americans don’t believe stricter gun-control laws would have prevented the shooting. Gallup has reported that support for more gun laws has steadily faded over the past two decades. Far more common this week has been the response of Arizona Rep. Trent Franks, who said he wished there had been “one more gun” in the Tucson mall that day—that one in “the hands of a responsible person” who could have stopped Jared Loughner.

More problematic for the gun-control opportunists is that politicians have also learned their lesson. Most of America (the Northeast excluded) tends to punish politicians for supporting gun control, and in recent years Democrats have run more members who are in favor of gun rights. Newly elected West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin won his election in part with an ad showing him shooting a cap-and-trade bill. Sen. Manchin—who this week warned against comparing “law abiding Americans who own guns” with a “deranged madman”—isn’t likely to support a ban on high-capacity clips. Any number of House Democrats will no doubt also be uncomfortable standing with Mr. King for a law that affords special treatment for federal officials.

Of course, before that could happen, new GOP Speaker John Boehner would have to let the legislation come to the floor. Asked about the possibility, a Boehner spokesman earlier this week told the press: “This is a time for the House and all Americans to come together to mourn our losses and pray for those who are recovering, not a time for politics.” Exactly.

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