A Massachusetts congressman criticized the National Rifle Association for tweeting about proper terminology for guns as news broke of the deadly shooting at a Texas church.
Rep. Seth Moulton, a Democrat, chided the NRA for sharing a blog post detailing “commonly misused terms” related to guns — calling the gun organization out for the timing of the tweet.
“Thanks, @NRA, for helping us focus on the real issues here, literally minutes after more Americans are massacred,” Moulton tweeted in response to the NRA’s article.
Thanks, @NRA, for helping us focus on the real issues here, literally minutes after more Americans are massacred. https://t.co/umCqUFouKA
— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) November 5, 2017
At least 26 people were killed and more were injured Sunday when a gunman opened fire on a service at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, local officials told the Associated Press. The gunman later died, although officials did not immediately say how he was killed. The shooting, which comes about a month after the Las Vegas massacre, is being described as the deadliest shooting at a place of worship in the U.S.
A few hours after the mass shooting, the NRA tweeted the post, entitled “It’s Time For a Vocabulary Lesson…” The story explains the difference between various terms including “semi-automatic assault rifles” and “AR-15s.” The tweet was later deleted, and the NRA did not respond to a request for comment from Fortune.
Many people joined Moulton in denouncing the NRA’s tweet. “Try to care about human people for like one minute?” one person wrote in response to the article.
“Right after a mass shooting? Disgusting,” another commented.
