(Video capture of the response to the shootings at Newtown. Image courtesy of Fox17.)

We were sitting at the Amen Corner at Willow. It was a Friday that had not gone that well. The Budget Cliff had everyone a little jumpy, and the awful news was the only thing that could push that into the background.

“It happened again,” said the Attorney. “I hope the fucking Supreme Court sleeps well tonight. Second Amendment my ass.”

“Don’t start,” I said. “The decision about gun ownership in the District had nothing to do with the horror in Connecticut.”

“There are too many goddamn guns,” said Old Jim. “That is the problem.”

“That is just one of the problems,” I said. “Mostly it is a young male problem. First I heard about the massacre this morning was an email from a college professor buddy. He wanted to get the name of an NRA trainer who could certify him for a concealed carry permit. He is scared to death one of his young male students will do something like it in his class. He wants to be able to defend himself.”

“Twenty kids. Can you imagine it? I can’t. This is the worst thing- the most horrific thing- I have ever heard of,” said Jerry, who was taking a break from rehearsals for the Holiday Chorus shows at the Kennedy Center.

“The lovely Bea and I are going shooting this Sunday,” said Jon-without-H matter of factly. He had a carefully knotted holiday bow tie and was drinking a porter, to keep things mixed up. “We did our NRA classroom course last Monday night.”

Liz-with-an-S popped down to our end of the bar and joined the conversation without missing a beat, updating the count of the murdered, and gliding through the conversation with effortless elegance completely out of context with the appalling subject.

“You know the only answer to this is to just take all the guns out of circulation, right?”

I shook my head. “Yeah, of course. The government should take all the guns. What are you, nuts?”

“No, I am serious. It is a public health freaking emergency. Guns are a menace to an orderly society.”

“Suppose I agree with you,” I said, taking a sip of the chardonnay, “And I do, in a logical construct. I think if we were designing a society today we probably not permit the civilians to be armed to the teeth.”

John-with grimaced. He is in the business of controlling weapons of mass destruction at the State Department, and knows a little about the difficulty involved in disarming the world. “Watch what comes out of the latest ‘National Discussion.’” He said, swirling the Happy Hour Red in his tulip glass. “Bans on guns that look like military weapons. Longer waiting periods to purchase them. Banning high capacity magazines. Cracking down on ammunition purchases. The Second Amendment says you can have guns but it does not mention ammunition.”

“Exactly which of those would have affected this brutal act of mass murder?” I asked. “Apparently the guns that were used were purchased legally by a sane adult female. This nut-job would never have popped up on the radar screen. He stole the guns after killing his Mom, for Chrissake.”

“Banning the extended magazines for the semi-automatic weapons might have.”

“I will take your point on that, but we don’t know what was used yet. And would people just learn the difference betwee