Subscribers of the Charleston Post Courier were outraged to find a sticker advertising a local gun range on the front of their morning paper on Thursday, just hours after a
Nine people were killed at the historic, predominantly black Emanauel A.M.E. church in Charleston on Wednesday evening when a gunman opened fire on a prayer group before fleeing the scene. Local officials have called the attack a hate crime.
The ad was stuck to the front of the newspaper, directly atop an article about the shooting. Subscribers called the ad "insensitive."
Charleston Post & Courier hard copy today came with an ad for a gun range on front page (h/t their Facebook page) pic.twitter.com/jnz60lWgyK— Reid Wilson (@ConsultReid) June 18, 2015
The paper has apologized in a response to a message left on its Facebook page highlighting the ad.
“The front-page sticky note that was attached to some home delivery newspapers on the same day as this tragedy is a deeply regrettable coincidence,” the paper said in response to a reader complaint on Facebook. “We apologize to those who were offended.”
Authorities have named 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof as the primary suspect in the shooting. He was taken into police custody on Thursday afternoon. President Obama made reference to the need for stricter gun control laws in a speech to the nation following the attack.
"Once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun," said Obama. "At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency. And it is in our power to do something about it."
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