Lady Gaga is being asked to make amends for wearing an assault-rifle bra in concert last week — by a man who barely survived the Columbine shooting.

“She should apologize if she upset people, because the climate surrounding guns is highly emotional right now,” Richard Castaldo told Celebuzz. “It is in poor taste and does not seem like the best time to do something like that.”

Castaldo was one of the first students to be shot by evil gunmen Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris in the April 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado. Twelve students and one teacher died that day; 21 others were hurt. Castaldo remains paralyzed from his injuries.

Gaga’s gun-blazing appearance at a Vancouver, Canada, concert on Saturday came only a month after gunman Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six teachers at an elementary school in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. The 26-year-old singer paired the bizarre bra with green military trousers and platform boots to open the North American leg of her Born This Way Ball tour.

“The timing was insensitive, and people will be offended by something like that,” Castaldo said. “If you go to a Lady Gaga concert, you expect that kind of thing. But I just hope that she was not making light of a real-life tragedy, because Sandy Hook was very sad.”

A representative from the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence agrees that the singer made a mistake by donning the bra.

“Lady Gaga should have used more common sense because she has such a responsibility with her level of fame and is a role model to millions of teenagers around the world,” said Ladd Everitt. “Exactly what was the message here, and why was it necessary in the first place in the current climate regarding guns? I believe she needs to show more respect to her fans.”

Castaldo, meanwhile, is facing yet another uphill battle: his Hollywood condo went into foreclosure at the end of 2012. The 31-year-old says he’s been receiving help from Occupy LA and hopes to prevent a full eviction by Friday. “Hopefully, I will be able to stay in my home, but it has been really stressful for me in recent months,” he said.

Still, he thinks his current misfortunes — and his past ones — pale in comparison to others’.

“Sandy Hook was worse than Columbine because all those little children died,” he said. “I would like the government to ban semi-automatic rifles and to have stricter background checks on gun owners as a result.”

Do you think Lady Gaga was insensitive to wear her gun bra? And where do you stand on gun laws? Give us your standpoint in the comments section.