It comes as no surprise that the massacre at Virginia Tech University has rekindled the debate over gun control. What is shocking is the speed with which the anti-gun crowd has capitalized on the situation.

While the rest of a horrified nation was glued to the news to get the latest updates on the unfolding tragedy, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence had already heard enough and felt it appropriate to comment on the events of April 16^th. By mid-afternoon, President Paul Helmke had posted the following on bradycampaign.org:

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the Virginia Tech University community, and to the families of the victims of what appears to be one of the worst mass shootings in American history.

Details are still forthcoming about what motivated the shooter in this case to act, and how he was able to arm himself. It is well known, however, how easy it is for an individual to get powerful weapons in our country.

We have now seen another horrible tragedy that will never be forgotten. It is long overdue for us to take some common-sense actions to prevent tragedies like this from continuing to occur."

It begs the question, of course, what “common-sense actions” could have been taken to prevent a tragedy about which we, as of the time of Helmke’s statement, had so few details? Common sense involves acting on some set of facts. Indeed, for the Brady Campaign to hyperventilate over the need for some undefined “actions” in this situation shows a complete lack of common sense.

If it turns out, for example, that the suspect stole the guns, or violated some other laws in preparing for his murderous spree, how did that make things “easy” for him?

Undaunted by the lack of information concerning the killer, his motives, or the guns used, the Brady team singled out a vague culprit: “powerful weapons.” What were they reaching for here: a certain caliber of bullet? Bazookas? Catapults? The description is meaningless and shows that Helmke was simply casting the net as wide as he could. (In a tragedy of this magnitude, why limit yourself?)

We will not have further comment until all the facts are known.”

It’s worth noting that the NRA’s response doesn’t hit on any of their usual talking points when it comes to gun crimes: Nothing about enforcing existing laws, or even about how an armed citizen might have cut short the shooting spree.

Not a word.

The Brady Campaign, however, saw fit to jump all over an incomplete story to remind us of their “common-sense” agenda. Helmke’s whole statement smacks of “we told you so!” with a passing, almost obligatory reference to “thoughts and prayers.”

While our collective focus should continue be on the victims, their families, and the Blacksburg community, the response from the Brady Campaign is infuriating. In a developing situation where the victims were still being identified, the Brady crowd was already spewing their usual rhetoric - rhetoric that couldn’t even target anything in particular. Indeed, since the Brady Campaign can’t articulate which of their proposals might have applied here, we can only come to the conclusion that their goal is to milk the nation’s emotional anguish for all it's worth.

With 33 dead in a senseless tragedy, we should expect a renewed debate over firearms in this country. However, some degree of restraint and decorum is in order before the politics of the Virginia Tech shootings should be fair game for discussion.

This is the lowest form of political opportunism, proving that the Brady Campaign truly has no shame.