In response to the Umpqua Community College shooting that claimed the lives of 9 innocent and injured 7 people in Oregon, one Lieutenant Governor issued a bold suggestion to citizens.

Unlike President Obama, Tennessee Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey pointed out the fact that the shooter’s rampage targeted Christians. “Whether the perpetrators are motivated by aggressive secularism, jihadist extremism or racial supremacy, their targets remain the same: Christians and defenders of the West,” Ramsey said.

“[The shooter] started asking people one by one what their religion was. ‘Are you a Christian?’ he would ask them, and if you’re a Christian stand up. And they would stand up and he said, ‘Good, because you’re a Christian, you are going to see God in just about one second.’ And then he shot and killed them,” said Stacy Boylen, whose daughter was wounded at UCC in Roseburg, Ore., told CNN.

The gunman’s disdain for religion was evident in his online profiles where he was a member of “doesn’t like organized religion” group on an Internet dating site. His online accounts also display his fascination with the terror tactics of the Irish Republican Army, show he bought Nazi memorabilia and wrote about the ‘limelight’ other shooters found after committing vile attacks.

A note officials believe Mercer wrote portrays him as a “bitter” man who “may have had strong hostilities toward religion,” and also depicts Mercer as a loner. Officials believe the note in question suggests Mercer lived a solitary life without many friends offline. He also wrote, he hoped he would be “welcomed in Hell and embraced by the devil.”

“While this is not the time for widespread panic, it is a time to prepare,” Ramsey added in his post. “I would encourage my fellow Christians who are serious about their faith to think about getting a handgun carry permit. I have always believed that it is better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it.

“Our enemies are armed. We must do likewise.”

Lt. Governor Ramsey also provided a link on how to obtain a handgun permit in Tennessee at the end of his post. The Tennessean reports that he also posted a link to a New York Post article with the headline “Oregon gunman singled out Christian during rampage.”

While Ramsey’s statement was welcome to some, it also prompted a written statement from TN Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, who said Ramsey’s comments “reek of fear-mongering and religious crusading.”

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office identified the nine people killed as Lucero Alcaraz, 19; Quinn Glen Cooper, 18; Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, 59; Lucas Eibel, 18; Jason Dale Johnson, 33; Lawrence Levine, 67; Sarena Dawn Moore, 44; Treven Taylor Anspach, 20; and Rebecka Ann Carnes, 18.