The National Rifle Association has abandoned its social media communities following Friday's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The NRA's Facebook page has been shuttered and it hasn't tweeted since Friday.
The NRA was highly criticized for an insensitive tweet the morning following the Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting. The lobby group is presumably trying to be more cautious by leaving Facebook and not tweeting (Twitter does not give the option to unpublish a page without permanently deleting it).
Beyond the social web, the NRA has not made any official statements following the tragic school shooting.
The last tweet sent by @NRA was Friday at 9:36 a.m. Law enforcement said the shooter, Adam Lanza, entered Sandy Hook Elementary school by force shortly after 9:30.
The NRA has pushed to build its Facebook following, sharing an image to Twitter Thursday that thanks its 1.7 million fans and asks them to tell their friends to like the page as well.
Did you hear? Our #facebook page reached 1.7 million "likes" today! Thanks for being a friend! #NRA twitter.com/NRA/status/279…— NRA (@NRA) December 13, 2012
On Friday, Facebook users, looking to advance discussions of gun control in the U.S., commented en masse on the NRA's holiday giveaway images. Much of the heated social media conversations about the gun control debate targets the NRA, the nation's largest gun lobby group.
Though the group has not made a statement regarding its Facebook leave, it will likely republish page on the social network.
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