Following news of a mass shooting at a Florida high school, the National Rifle Association removed its retweet of a post that encouraged people to buy guns as gifts on Valentine’s Day.
The tweet, which was posted by Yonkers, NY-based Kimber Manufacturing, a firearms manufacturer and distributor, has also since been removed. However, screenshots of the image — of a red heart-shaped box with two guns on it — have circulated the platform.
“Give your significant other something they’ll appreciate this Valentine’s Day #kimber,” the tweet read. The image was originally posted by Jim’s Firearms of Florida on Instagram.
The tweet can also be seen in an archived version of the NRA’s Twitter account.
The timing of the post — and the retweet — is unclear.
The NRA and Kimber Manufacturing did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
The NRA has garnered backlash for its social media posts before. Following the shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, in November — which killed 26 — one of the organization’s Twitter accounts posted a link to a blog post detailing “commonly misused terms” related to guns. It was also deleted — but people still noticed.
“Thanks, @NRA, for helping us focus on the real issues here, literally minutes after more Americans are massacred,” Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts tweeted in response to the NRA’s article.
The Valentine’s Day retweet generated similar replies.
The Florida shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland left 17 dead at a South Florida high school.
