WASHINGTON -- Along with the soul-searching and calls for the country to stand with the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, there's more lawmakers could do: There are at least 10 laws sitting in Congress designed to make it harder for anyone to inflict such suffering again.

And while a number of legislators -- and President Barack Obama -- declared Friday that it is time to take "meaningful action" after the seventh mass shooting of the year, there's not much evidence Congress will move.

Still, some members are hoping the tragedy in Connecticut will finally spur lawmakers to act.

"It will only be if we make it so; otherwise, it will only be another step in desensitizing all of us," said Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), adding that perhaps the depth of the killings' depravity would prompt his colleagues to challenge the gun lobby in a way they did not even after one of their own members, Rep. Gabbie Giffords (D-Ariz.), was shot in the head.

"Hopefully, they will come from growing horror and realization by people -- I mean, this was an attack on a kindergarten," said Nadler. " I hope people realize this could have been their children, it could be any of our children."

The congressman, long a proponent of gun control, laid out the toll of gun-related homicide in stark terms.

"We lose 9,000 people a year, roughly, to gun violence in this country," Nadler said. "We're at war, and we haven't recognized that. We have to go to war against the people who enable the gun violence, the people who stop us from keeping guns out of the hands of mentally unstable people, of felons, and that means the NRA leadership."

He argued that most Americans -- indeed many NRA members -- favor sensible gun controls, but the leaders of the organization are able to get enough "people in enough [congressional districts] to think that this is going to take guns away" to block legislation.

It's not clear that new laws would have stopped the Connecticut horror, in which the gunman reportedly used legally purchased guns that he took from his mother.

Nadler pointed to a school attack in another country on Friday that ended very differently, contrasting the U.S. with China, where guns are not as easily accessed.

"It was today in China, an attack on a school, just like here," Nadler said, citing a BBC News article. "The only difference was the assaulter used a knife instead of a gun. So there were two seriously injured children and 20 with less serious injuries, instead of 20 dead children."

Nadler said he would start by closing the so-called gun show loophole that allows people to buy weapons there without background checks -- unlike in gun shops -- and by banning high-capacity magazines, whose only purpose he argued is killing more people.

He was not sure what other gun control advocates would want to pursue first, but he noted that in the event the Republican leadership was interested in acting, it could do so almost immediately with existing bills.

Democrats also could file what's known as a petition to discharge a number of bills, and the House would have to vote on any that a majority of members had signed. There is not enough time left in 2012 for such a petition effort, but it could be started early in the new year.

Ultimately, Nadler said, it is up to leaders to convince the nation it is time to change the laws, and he said that starts with Obama.

"The president said he was going to take 'meaningful action' and I assume that he means he's going to take leadership in attempting to get some reasonable gun control legislation," Nadler said. "The president has the bully pulpit."

Here are the 10 laws Congress could pursue immediately:

Keep Kids Safe Act of 2011

Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act

Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2011

Fix Gun Checks Act of 2011

Preventing Gun Violence Act

Stop Gun Trafficking and Strengthen Law Enforcement Act of 2011

Guns-Free National Parks Act of 2012

Straw Purchaser Penalty Enhancement Act

Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act of 2012

Securing Citizens' Protection at Federal Events Act

Michael McAuliff covers Congress and politics for The Huffington Post. Talk to him on Facebook.

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• 1981: The Attempted Assassination Of President Ronald Reagan

  on March 30, 1981, President Reagan and three others were shot and wounded in an assassination attempt by John Hinckley, Jr. outside the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. Reagan's press secretary, Jim Brady, was shot in the head.

• 1993: The Brady Handgun Violence Act

  The Brady Handgun Violence Act of 1993, signed into law by President Bill Clinton, mandated that federally licensed dealers complete comprehensive background checks on individuals before selling them a gun. The legislation was named for James Brady, who was shot during an attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981.

• 1994: The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act

  The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994, instituted a ban on 19 kinds of assault weapons, including Uzis and AK-47s. The crime bill also banned the possession of magazines holding more than ten rounds of ammunition. (An exemption was made for weapons and magazines manufactured prior to the ban.)

• 2004: Law Banning Magazines Holding More Than Ten Rounds Of Ammunition Expires

  In 2004, ten years after it first became law, Congress allowed a provision banning possession of magazines holding more than ten rounds of ammunition to expire through a sunset provision. Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke told HuffPost that the expiration of this provision meant that Rep. Gabby Giffords's alleged shooter was able to fire off 20-plus shots without reloading (under the former law he would have had only ten).

• 2007: The U.S. Court of Appeals For The District Of Columbia Rules In Favor Of Dick Heller

  In 2007 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled to allow Dick Heller, a licensed District police officer, to keep a handgun in his home in Washington, D.C. Following that ruling, the defendants petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.

• 2008: The NICS Improvement Amendments Act

  Following the deadly shooting at Virginia Tech University, Congress passed legislation to require states provide data on mentally unsound individuals to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, with the aim of halting gun purchases by the mentally ill, and others prohibited from possessing firearms. The bill was signed into law by President George W. Bush in January of 2008.

• 2008: Supreme Court Strikes Down D.C. Handgun Ban As Unconstitutional

  In June of 2008, the United States Supreme Court upheld the verdict of a lower court ruling the D.C. handgun ban unconstitutional in the landmark case <em>District of Columbia v. Heller</em>.

• Gabrielle Giffords And Trayvon Martin Shootings

  Gun control advocates had high hopes that reform efforts would have increased momentum in the wake of two tragic events that rocked the nation. In January of 2011, Jared Loughner opened fire at an event held by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), killing six and injuring 13, including the congresswoman. Resulting attempts to push gun control legislation <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/09/trayvon-martin-shooting-gun-debate_n_1413115.html" target="_hplink">proved fruitless</a>, with neither proposal even succeeding in gaining a single GOP co-sponsor. More than a year after that shooting, Florida teenager Trayvon Martin was <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/trayvon-martin" target="_hplink">gunned down</a> by George Zimmerman in an event that some believed would bring increased scrutiny on the nation's Stand Your Ground laws. While there has been increasing discussion over the nature of those statutes, lawmakers were <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/09/trayvon-martin-shooting-gun-debate_n_1413115.html" target="_hplink">quick to concede</a> that they had little faith the event would effectively spur gun control legislation, thanks largely to the National Rifle Association's vast lobbying power. Read more <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/09/trayvon-martin-shooting-gun-debate_n_1413115.html" target="_hplink">here</a>:

• Colorado Movie Theater Shooting

  In July of 2012, a heavily armed gunman <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/aurora-shooting-movie-theater-batman_n_1688547.html" target="_hplink">opened fire on theatergoers</a> attending a midnight premiere of the final film of the latest Batman trilogy, killing 12 and wounding scores more. The suspect, James Eagan Holmes, allegedly carried out the act with a number of handguns, as well as an AR-15 assault rifle with a 100-round drum magazine. Some lawmakers used the incident, which took place in a state with some of the laxest gun control laws, to bring forth legislation designed to place increased regulations on access to such weapons, but many observers, citing previous experience, were <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/batman-shooting_n_1690547.html" target="_hplink">hesitant to say</a> that they would be able to overcome the power of the National Rifle Association and Washington gun lobby.