"President Bush has always been a disciplined man, but yesterday he set a new standard for self-control: He moderated an hour-long discussion about the rash of school shootings in the past week without once mentioning the word "guns."

First lady Laura Bush was nearly as good, giving a seven-minute speech at yesterday's White House Conference on School Safety without mentioning guns. Two longtime aides, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, deftly led hours of panels at the National 4-H building in Chevy Chase with only a few glancing references to weapons.

This was no misfire. The White House, hastily arranging yesterday's forum to react to shootings over the past fortnight at schools in Pennsylvania, Colorado, Wisconsin and Missouri, neglected to invite any gun-control advocates. In fact, how the killers had carried out their deeds might have remained a mystery if 19-year-old twin brothers Theo and Niko Milonopoulos hadn't infiltrated the gathering.

Managing to get in front of a microphone during question time, Theo pointed out to Gonzales that "the common denominator in the rash of school shootings" has been access to high-powered guns. He asked what could be done to reduce the spread of such weapons "in light of the expiration of the federal assault weapons ban?"

"Assault weapons," Gonzales repeated. Some in the audience chuckled as he looked to see who on the panel would take the question.

The attorney general decided to do it himself. "Obviously, kids shouldn't have access," he granted, before quickly adding that there is no need for new laws. "We need to make sure those who break the laws are prosecuted," he said.

"There's a big elephant in the room and it's gun control," Niko observed after the panel ended.

The Bush administration has for years been known for its use of human props to make its points: middle-class "tax families" to pitch for tax cuts, victims of Saddam Hussein's torture to pitch for the Iraq war, and friendly partisans to pitch soft questions at "Ask President Bush" sessions. The technique is not new; Bill Clinton did much the same when hosting events about race.

Still, yesterday's forum was unusual. While experts dispute how much blame to place on children's access to guns, even the invited guests found it a bit odd to banish the topic entirely from a school-violence forum. "No one wants to touch gun control before an election," surmised one participant, Warlene Gary of the National PTA.

Democrats and gun-control advocates shut out of the invitation-only event had to do their sniping from a distance. They pointed out the COPS in Schools program, given $160 million in 2000, has been cut to zero. "The Bush administration is in denial," protested the Violence Policy Center.

At the conference, Bush's thoughts leaned in the opposite direction; he mused at one point about whether schools were becoming too locked down.

Gonzales advised Bush that one panelist said metal detectors send "the wrong message about what we think of our kids."

"I happen to agree," Bush said. "But what do I know?"

"Yes, sir," Gonzales replied, drawing chuckles from those in the crowd who thought he was agreeing with the "what do I know" quip.

Bush and his fellow participants stood in front of a faux blackboard inscribed with the words "Conference on School Safety" 42 times. With gun control off the table, the questions and comments became a bit repetitious, too, as a long line of participants echoed the belief that school violence would be reduced by values education and religious belief.

"It's illegal to say 'God' in the public schools these days," complained one questioner. He was followed by a representative of the American Association of Christian Schools. Craig Scott, brother of a girl killed in the Columbine massacre, said she was "killed for her faith."

"Lots of folks find answers in their faith," Spellings observed.

They certainly did yesterday. Another panelist spoke about the need for churches to "adopt" schools. An organization started by the Scotts, Rachel's Challenge, distributed brochures comparing the slain girl and her father to Anne Frank and her father.

When Bush arrived, Craig Scott was invited to speak again. This time, he read a poem he said his father read while appearing before a congressional committee.

"You've outlawed simple prayer.

"Now gunshots fill our classrooms and precious children die . . .

"You regulate restrictive law through legislative creed, and yet you failed to understand that God is what we need."

Until that point, Bush had been having trouble finding his voice on school shootings, which one of his own panelists asserted could number as high as 600 over the past six years. He labeled the violence "inexplissible," apparently merging "inexplicable" and "inexpressible." And he had to guide the discussion away from one panelist's remark about "computer predators" -- a dangerous topic during the Mark Foley scandal.

But on hearing Scott's "unbelievably eloquent testimony," Bush brightened considerably.

"That was great, Craig," the president said, after the audience finished its standing ovation. "Could I have that?"" (Dana Milbank, Washington Sketch, The Washington Post, October 11, 2006)