This week, President Barack Obama tried to capture his nation's grief over the atrocity at a memorial service in Arizona.
A quintessentially American scene of democracy at work had been "shattered," he told mourners.
He called for healing and humility and the end of a blame-game after claims that inflammatory rhetoric in US politics, much of it using gun imagery, could incite violence.
But one issue scored only a passing mention in the President's speech: Gun control.
Obama, a strong gun control advocate earlier in his political career, noted in his speech at the Tucson memorial service on Wednesday that the shooting had sparked a national conversation on issues including "the merits of gun safety laws" - but he said nothing of his own views on the matter.
When he ran for the US Senate in 2004, Obama said it was a "scandal" that President George W. Bush was allowing the assault weapons ban to expire without pushing for its renewal. And as a presidential candidate, he promised to push to reinstate the ban. After the election he said it would be difficult to do.
And don't look for any new gun control laws coming out of Capitol Hill in the wake of the Tucson shooting rampage.
Many Democrats championed gun control in the 1980s and 1990s, but they backed away after the 2000 election, when it became clear that Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore's support for tighter gun laws likely cost him votes in key rural areas.
Then, magazine clips were limited to 10 rounds under the 1994 assault weapons ban, but Congress let that law expire in 2004 after Republicans were seen to have capitalized on the powerful National Rifle Association's opposition to it in the 2000 presidential race and other elections.
That strategy is likely to carry into 2012 election. After conservative-led rout in November, Democrats running in red states - and there are many in the Senate - will be eager to burnish their conservative credentials and hesitant to bump against the NRA.
Even proposed legislation that has focused on prohibiting magazine clips that allow a shooter to fire off numerous rounds of ammunition without reloading is at stake.
Similar magazine-limiting legislation was introduced after the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings but was never considered by the House or Senate.
Advocates of new federal gun controls are planning to introduce legislation, but their aims are minimal and their expectations for passage very low.
But lawmakers seeking even modest limits on gun rights seem almost resigned to giving up. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., is drafting a bill supported by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg that would prohibit people from carrying guns within 1,000 feet of the president, members of Congress or federal judges.
He told reporters this week that his office had received "100 calls an hour from people who think I'm trying to take away their Second Amendment rights (which is the right to carry arms)."
"This kind of legislation is very difficult," said King. "The fact is Congress has not done any gun legislation in years. Once you get out of the Northeast, guns are part of daily life."
Indeed, at restaurants and bars in Arizona, patrons often carry guns under their coats. It is perfectly legal, of course, in a state proud of its Wild West history.
Some of the most relaxed gun laws in the US allow people to carry concealed weapons without a permit. Under these same laws, a mentally disturbed man was able to buy a Glock semi-automatic pistol at a Tucson sporting goods shop without garnering any attention.
"We're not looking at banning all weapons," said Rep. Gary Ackerman, a New York Democrat who wants to close a loophole that allows some private dealers to sell guns without conducting background checks.
"We're looking to make sure that innocent people from all over will be safe in their own homes and public places. I think the tragedy and the heavy moment in which we find ourselves lends itself to some contemplation. I think there's a hope, at least, for reasonableness."
The argument is not likely to woo staunch gun rights advocates in Congress.
In fact, some have said that an armed civilian might have been able to stop the carnage in Tucson.
