Front-running GOP candidates spoke out this week--after another all too familiar school shooting in Oregon--with pleas for more people to arm themselves.

Holding a press conference after the massacre, Ben Carson took a moment to give insight—through squinted eyes—on the issue of gun control. “Gun control only works for normal law-abiding citizens,” he said. “It doesn’t work for the crazies.”

If he was thrown into that situation, Dr. Carson said he “would not just stand there and let him shoot me. I would say ‘Hey guys, everybody attack him. He may shoot me, but he can’t get us all.’”

Fortunately, he took a moment to step away from his victim blaming to add some validity to his comments as he asserted that, “this is probably not going to be the last time this happens.”

Donald Trump exacerbated Carson’s notions while speaking on his campaign trail in Franklin, Tennessee stating that, “If you had a couple of the teachers or somebody with guns in that room, you would have been a hell of a lot better off. You would have been a hell of a lot better off.”

Somewhat contrary to the conservative paradigm, though, he added that, “Every time something like this happens they don’t blame mental illness, that our mental healthcare is out of whack, or all of the other problems,” which is funny considering Obamacare—Trump’s archenemy—expands mental health treatment to afflicted Americans.

Unless, of course, individual states choose not to extend those benefits; 20 refuse to do so.

Yet, regardless of supposed solutions, the only fix conservatives and their allies want to accept is summarized by the NRA’s leader, Wayne LaPierre: “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

President Obama advocated for a different solution.

Through an obvious display of emotion and dismay, Obama stressed the need to have a sophisticated, political conversation about a way to prevent further gun violence.

In his statement following the shootings at UCC, he explained that “our thoughts and prayers are not enough. It’s not enough…it does nothing to prevent this carnage from being inflicted someplace else in America, next week, or a couple of months from now.”

He went on to condemn the conservations conservatives have consistently perpetuated following these mass shootings.

“I can imagine the press releases being cranked out: We need more, they’ll argue. Fewer gun safety laws. Does anybody really believe that?" he asked. "So the notion that gun laws don't work, or just will make it harder for law-abiding citizens and criminals will still get their guns is not borne out by the evidence."

President Obama, after every mass shooting, has firmly advocated for a pragmatic, rational and implementable solution to gun violence. Citing numerous cases, including foreign and domestic examples, he has provided Americans with a clear stance on an issue, something that isn’t always common within politics.

Now is a time to politicize this problem. Now is the time to take a stand against claims that more firearms will solve this problem—an argument that is plainly not rooted in evidence.

So, we can either accept the folly of a position that conservatives double-back on to evade the true problem, or we can accept an actual, practical solution that’s grounded in fact and backed by real, doable policies.

The choice is up to every one of us, and depending on what we choose, it will determine whether or not these massacres will continue to happen or fade away. To me, the choice is clear.