A bipartisan truce is in effect on gun control issues in Washington — a truce on the National Rifle Association’s terms.

The NRA’s recognition of this is evident in the group’s response to the Arizona tragedy. It hasn’t bothered to mount a major lobbying push to make sure lawmakers have their guns-don’t-kill-people talking points. Congressional office staffers say there’s been no contact from the group on the topic.

Its only statement on the shooting, repeated by chief lobbyist Chris Cox in an e-mail to POLITICO Monday, was this: “At this time, anything other than prayers for the victims and their families would be inappropriate.”

The message is clear, and it’s one that most lawmakers seem to have absorbed: Not only is access to guns irrelevant to this discussion; bringing it up would be downright insensitive.