Twenty children die in a school shooting in the United States. The President calls for tighter gun control regulations. The NRA says that “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

I put that in quotes because, as you’ve probably heard, that is the actual quote from top NRA lobbyist Wayne LaPierre. I didn’t paraphrase it. He actually used all those words – bad guy, good guy, and yes, the idea that the best response to a violent situation is simply more violence.

It offends the sensibilities. First, the idea that anyone or anything can be reduced to something as simple as “good” or “bad,” as though there are absolutes like that, and as though people can fall easily into either category, is bad enough. But then the idea that we should really be training armed officials to be inside schools to take out the next “bad guy” who happens to show up with a gun? Even worse.

I suppose what I find so appalling about the whole thing is the language used. You hear some Republicans saying things like “if only that teacher had had a gun, she could have blown the guy’s head off” (here I am paraphrasing, but it’s relatively close to the actual quote by Republican representative Louie Gohmert, including the part about shooting off someone’s head). This is the language of the people who govern and legislate one of the most powerful countries in the world, acting as though it is a mild, casual thing to just take out another human being.

I can honestly say I’ve never thought seriously about taking out another person. Maybe in a video game, but not in real life. I simply don’t consider the deliberate murder of another human in so off-hand a manner. It strikes me as a little screwed up. Of course, if it’s a “bad guy” I guess this sort of overthinking is counter-productive to getting something real done, at least in the minds of just one of many extremely powerful groups that dominate the political landscape of that country to our immediate south.

I write this because what else is there to do other than spread awareness of the real ramifications of this event? It is not the most succinctly written piece on this issue that you will find, but it is accessible and, if nothing else, honest. I think that while mainstream media will tell you details about what the NRA has said, they won’t really point out just how screwed up it is. It is at times like these, I think, that we really need to have people plainly say when something is messed up. And this whole NRA-Connecticut thing fits the bill.

To anyone still with me, I urge this: contain your outrage. Turn it into the strength and energy to do your best to educate and have thoughtful conversations with those who do not see the significance of this particular incident. Let’s not fight fire with fire, or violence with violence. Let’s just point out plainly how wrong this stuff is, and let’s demand that others do the same.