Every time there’s a mass shooting, there’s also a push to pass some kind of gun control. Senators and representatives alike call for restrictions on our right to keep and bear arms. That was especially true in the wake of Sandy Hook.

The horrors of so many children so young being massacred by a maniac rattled the American people to our core.

One thing being pushed at the time was, unsurprisingly, an assault weapon ban. That was the weapon the killer used–a weapon he murdered his mother to obtain because he couldn’t buy one himself–and so it had to go.

Only, it didn’t. A number of Democrats actually opposed gun control back then.

Now, they’re saying they regret their actions.

Four current senators and three former senators who opposed an assault weapons ban in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 now say they made a mistake, according to The Washington Post.

“My activity was passive, not active, in searching for a solution, and that I regret,” former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., told the Post.

The Post heard similar remarks in interviews with Sens. Michael F. Bennet, D-Colo.; Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.; Angus King, I-Maine; and Mark R. Warner, D-Va.

…

Other former Sens. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, and Mark Udall, D-Colo., also expressed contrition about not supporting gun control measures at the time.

And, unsurprisingly, at least some of these senators blamed the NRA, saying they felt pressured by the organization or its members.

Those members, of course, are also called “voters” and have a tendency to reach out to their lawmakers and voice their expectations. By simply describing them as members, though, allows them to pretend they just succumbed to the pressure brought to bear by a political juggernaut.

No, they made a decision and part of that was dictated by what their constituents said they wanted.

What the senators are really expressing their regrets over is defending people’s rights. We, as Americans, have a right to keep and bear arms. Those arms should include those useful for defending this nation, which is where the AR-15 fits in.

Plus, contrary to what people ignorant about guns and self-defense may claim, such weapons are actually useful for defending yourself.

What happened is that the political winds turned. Assault weapon bans weren’t popular in 2013, so it was easy for Democratic senators to oppose them without an issue. It was actually politically expedient to oppose them, actually.

Things changed and now it’s politically feasible to support restrictions on our rights–at least, according to the polls, which might not be all that accurate–and rather than look like they’re little more than political windsocks, they now can pretend they regret their previous support for our rights and look like they’re somehow superior to those who just decide what to support based on popularity.

Yes, even those out of office. Some might consider coming back and still others might just want to keep getting invited to the right cocktail parties, all of which require ideological conformity.

I say this because if you believe in the right to keep and bear arms, you recognize that gun control doesn’t stop mass shootings. It doesn’t even reduce the bloodshed. Let’s remember that, for example, the worst school shooting on American soil is still Virginia Tech, where the killer used handguns.

So what these senators are doing won’t actually change anything except allow them to flip their votes and try to look like they’re not just flip-flopping. We know better.