On Dec. 13, the National Rifle Association’s Twitter account announced a giveaway promotion, thanked its followers for getting its Facebook page up to 1.7 million “likes,” and related a story from Wyoming in which a gunman apparently retreated from a nail salon after realizing one of its customers was “packing heat.” It tweeted the Wyoming case using the hashtag #ArmedCitizen.
On Dec. 14, the day an armed citizen killed 26 unarmed women and children at a Connecticut elementary school, the NRA’s Twitter account went silent. It has not tweeted since. Meanwhile, its Facebook page has disappeared, along with those 1.7 million “likes.” Navigating to www.facebook.com/nationalrifleassociation now redirects to the Facebook homepage.
The Daily Dot noted on Friday that the Facebook page had turned into a hotbed of anti-gun sentiment in the wake of the shooting, which may be what prompted the NRA to take it down. TechCrunch’s Josh Constine surmises that the organization used Facebook’s “page visibility” setting to temporarily unpublish its page. That makes it inaccessible to the public but leaves the account intact so that it can go live again once tempers have cooled. Here’s TechCrunch’s Constine on the rationale behind the tactic:
Some have accused the organization of cowardice for taking down the Page and ceasing to tweet. However, this crisis-management strategy may be succeeding. It’s prevented creating a centralized place under the NRA banner where perspectives of its independent supporters could have been taken as its own. The last thing the NRA wants is to be characterized as sharing an extremist or offensive position posted by someone who doesn’t speak for it or the rest of its fans. Other brands and organizations might follow the NRA’s lead by retreating from social media when they face times of crisis.
Silence in the face of tragedy is the NRA’s modus operandi, as Buzzfeed’s Andrew Kaczynski points out. But taking its Facebook page offline may be a first. The question now is how long it will have to wait before resuming its posts and tweets about giveaways and gun-related news stories. My guess is it could be a while.
Was the Conn. shooter an NRA member?
No…he was a liberal!
http://www.galganov.com/editorials.asp?id=1514
No, I think he was loner / mommas boy that played too many
video games and had trouble separating fantasy from reality.
Perhaps a touch of an Oedipal Complex as well.
Clearly troubled , by anyones standards.
…. Old Dr. Freud would have his hands full with the psycho killer.
The radical anti gun crowd would never be happy with any expression of sympathy by the NRA or gun owners in general. Sadly, any upcoming debate will lack any element of “debate”, but will only degenerate into an emotional shouting match. I think back over a half century to my time in kindergarten and can only imagine the horror that those kids experienced before their futures were snatched from them. But I look forward to what may be in store in my own life, and I know the government will not be there to protect this soon-to-be gray haired old guy from human predators and the mentally deranged. So I’ll keep my guns, all of them, and try to be ready. If indeed I have the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”I don’t believe that either the government or the liberals have the right to bully my guns away or restrict my ability to protect myself by whatever means that I determine is most effective.
This retreat from social networking shows that the NRA will cease to have many members when the older generations pass away.
I would be interested in seeing what happens to NRA’s membership after this.
If gun sales are any indication, even more people will be choosing to protect themselves. Security systems don’t stop anyone and Police will always be there AFTER the murders take place.
The mother of the shooter bought guns to protect herself and that didn’t exactly turn out as planned.
I knew a guy who’s kid died in a car seat after he had an accident. I still kept using my kids car seat.
I don’t believe any new gun owners are buying these guns, just gun owners who already have them buying more….. like they always do.
I may have missed it but did the NRA come out with any condolences or statements of sorrow?
It’s interesting how they take credit for the good, but conveniently ignore the bad or find some way to shift the blame.
The last thing the NRA wants is to be characterized as sharing an extremist or offensive position
A bit late for that. Their knee jerk opposition to reasonable gun regulation measures – ANY gun regulation, shows how out of step they are with the mainstream.
The NRA needs to get back to it’s original mission – get back to a place and time when it wasn’t corrupted by money and power. Education, safety and 2nd amendment rights are NOT in conflict with reasonable regulation.
How many gun regulations are on the books today?
There are today more than 20,000 gun-control laws in effect—federal, state, and local—in the United States.
Yes Bill. I know you’d like to see guns sold in vending machines like candy and anything short of that is infringing on your rights.
So, now that you’ve dropped that oft repeated and inaccurate talking point about “20,000 laws”, how about naming the 10 laws that you find to be most infringing on your rights?
Seems to me buying a gun is pretty simple. I could go to the store with my credit card and buy a handful by noon. So really, where’s the problem?
I dont think you could because of the mentally ill backround check…you would be denied! A very good law by the way that worked in Connecticut!
I knew you wouldn’t be up to the task. All bark, no bite. Oh Billy, mommy is calling.
Cant be a drug user , either.
As I said, I could go to the store with my credit card and have a handful by noon. I don’t even have nicotine in my system, friend.
Ain’t this something…the nonviolent liberals making violent threats against people that are trying to educate on weapons safety and respect for life! Now THAT is hypocrisy and the real face of the democrat party!
All you have to do to look at the dems is look at MI and the violance of the unions in this country, that is their true colors, power by force, and violence.
Dont forget Wisconsin, when the crybaby unions/teachers trashed the Capitol Building in Madison.
I think the bill for destruction of property was around $ 7 million dollars, US.
And all the citizens of The Dairy State felt and shared the pain on
that one.
So if we ban guns and no one would have one, please tell me more about how nobody can buy drugs?
http://www.galganov.com/editorials/12-17-2012/curse-of-the-left/avoiding-the-truth-and-responsibility/
this psycho murdered his mother and stole her legally owned guns, which were registered and not bought at gunshows. the problem lies with mental health procedures in this country not the NRA