So here they came Thursday, not 24 hours after a murder spree in the west Orlando suburb of Pine Hills left three dead, including a young local TV journalist, and two others wounded, scrabbling over fresh corpses to decry America’s gun culture while indicting its most steadfast political allies — the self-same Republicans who, they charge, stain every shooting spree with their bloody fingerprints.

“Too many lives are being ripped apart by gun violence,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday. On this, we do not disagree. So, hooray! Common ground!

Then came the reliable left-wing shibboleth: “The president continues to call on Congress to act on gun safety and for state officials to take action at the state level.”

So here we go again. Let’s do gun “safety” legislation! Whatever that means. (Actually, we know exactly what that means: gun confiscation, one legal nibble at a time.)

If we are to believe the White House, all that stands between us and us this blessed utopian domestic tranquility is the darn modern-day Clanton Gang — Republicans who won’t be content until semi-automatics are issued to infants along with their birth certificates. Or something. No caricature is beyond the passion of the antigun set.

Never mind that nothing yet proposed by the gun “safety” crowd would have prevented the 19-year-old with the squeaky voice and spiky ’do from carrying out his depravity.

This is the moment OCSO deputies apprehended Keith Moses, who shot five people on Feb. 22, killing three: 38-year-old Nathacha Augustin, 9-year-old T’yonna Major and @MyNews13 reporter Dylan Lyons. pic.twitter.com/KS7hx1Q2V2

— Orange County Sheriff's Office (@OrangeCoSheriff) February 23, 2023

A character well-known to local law enforcement and the Orange County juvenile justice system — authorities have detailed an expansive rap sheet that includes arrests for grand theft and domestic violence — the shooter is someone who would not have passed any lawful background check.

But he’s also a “known gang member.” Hmmm. At the risk of getting ahead of ourselves, “known gang member” is the sort of pedigree that typically enables illegal access to guns. How do “common-sense” gun “safety” promoters aim to fix that?

Here’s how: They pretty much don’t. Instead, they pivot to unrelated complaints involving the practice of the Second Amendment as understood by the U.S. Supreme Court, which has few issues with law-abiding citizens keeping and bearing arms.

Accordingly, even now the Florida Legislature is actively weighing whether to adopt “constitutional carry” as state law. Gov. Ron DeSantis, the immensely popular chief executive and potential Republican presidential candidate, says he’d sign such legislation in a Micanopy minute.

Joe Biden’s White House thinks that’s terrible, of course.

“Instead of following in the footsteps of so many other states,” KJP said, “taking common sense action to enact state level assault weapons ban[s] and other gun safety measures, Republican state officials in Florida are currently leading an effort to pass a permit-less concealed carry law, which would eliminate the need to get a license to carry a concealed weapon.

“This is the opposite of common sense gun safety, and the people of Florida who have paid a steep price for state and congressional inaction on guns — from Parkland to Pulse nightclub to Pine Hills — deserve better.”

Thank you, Madam Press Secretary. Those who recently elected a GOP supermajority to represented them in Tallahassee reserve the right to decide what “deserve better” means. Just now, we’re thinking self-defense readiness fits the definition. Because, even under the legislation working its way through the Legislature, the Pine Hills shooter would not be covered: He’s neither 21, nor (presumably, given his background) was he legally able to obtain a carry permit. And yet, there he was Wednesday, shooting down innocents just 30 minutes from the gates of Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

You know what might have been effective? If someone close to the shooter had, just days before, filed for a court order under Florida’s red-flag statutes, enacted after the Valentine’s Day 2018 massacre at Parkland’s Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High.

Or, looking ahead, if the Legislature was tougher in meting out punishment for minors guilty of violent crimes. Monique Worrell, state attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit (which includes Orlando and surrounding Orange County) called out lawmakers: 

“Currently for our max-risk programs, you’re looking at a term of 18 to 36 months in a max-risk program. That is the worst possible punishment in our juvenile system, but that doesn’t match individuals who are involved in gun violence.”

Here’s hoping lawmakers heed Worrell’s advice, and add the necessary rehabilitative resources to divert kids who think getting arrested enhances their credibility.

Back in the real world, we will not speculate about how future episodes of random neighborhood shooting sprees will work out if Florida becomes the 26th state — who knew? — to adopt constitutional carry. Would it make would-be killers in the Sunshine State more likely to encounter good guys with guns? Would it cause perps to be more circumspect about where they do their gunslinging?

If the White House and gun “safety” activists want to talk about it, fine. It’s a respectful debate worth having. Especially now, in the raw, wrenching wake of Pine Hills.