WASHINGTON INSIGHT

HITTING HOME: Some members of Congress come to their beliefs through cool, political calculation. Others get the benefit of galvanizing personal moments. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), a proponent of gun control, experienced two recent episodes that deepened her resolve. . . . When a heavily armed gunman killed eight people in a San Francisco high-rise law office last month, one of the victims was a close friend of Boxer’s son, Doug. . . . A week later, one of the employees in Boxer’s San Francisco office was arrested after police received a tip that he was carrying a concealed weapon. The 33-year-old receptionist, who was immediately fired, had a 9-millimeter handgun.