At 9:20 a.m. ET Friday, a Twitter account associated with the National Rifle Association sent the following tweet:
Good morning, shooters. Happy Friday! Weekend plans?— American Rifleman (@NRA_Rifleman) July 20, 2012
When the tweet was noticed by a large number of Twitter users a few hours later, many found it appalling and in poor taste given Friday's tragic shooting in Aurora, Colo.
This is a real tweet today from an official NRA account. Oblivious. RT @NRA_Rifleman: Good morning, shooters. Happy Friday! Weekend plans?— Max Fisher (@Max_Fisher) July 20, 2012
Yeah, just gonna mourn a bit. And you? RT @NRA_Rifleman: Good morning, shooters. Happy Friday! Weekend plans?— John DeCicco (@JohnDC) July 20, 2012
WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU????? PSYCHOS>RT @NRA_Rifleman: Good morning, shooters. Happy Friday! Weekend plans?— Steffi5461 (@Steffi5461) July 20, 2012
The tweet was sent through social media management platform Hootsuite, an indication that is was likely scheduled in advance. However, the tweet had yet to be deleted by 12:00 p.m. Friday.
Betting (read: hoping) that NRA tweet was scheduled and auto-tweeted.— Ross Neumann (@rossneumann) July 20, 2012
When Mashable reached out to an NRA press contact, she didn't seem to know of the tweet's existence. Mashable is awaiting further details from the NRA, and we'll update this post with any response.
Update: The tweet has been deleted as of 12:15 p.m. ET.
Update 2: The entire account has been deleted as of 4:45 p.m. ET.
The American Rifleman, which posted the tweet, is an "official journal" of the NRA, which provides "the latest in shooting news and firearms reviews."