The pro-gun organization broke its media silence Tuesday with a statement that it then also posted on its Facebook wall. In 14 hours, the post has been liked 26K times and commented on 4.6K times.

 

The group will also hold a press conference on Friday, it said.

Critics and Facebook fans alike noticed the group's disappearance from Facebook the day of the Newtown shooting. A commenter on the US Carry pro-gun bulletin board questioned if the social media site had taken the page down: "I 'Liked' the NRA Facebook page the other day and then shared their photo of having over 1.7 million Facebook followers. Their Facebook page is gone and the photo I shared is gone as well! Did Facebook delete them?"