The Charleston Post & Courier has had to issue an apology after a sticker advertising a gun range was attached to the front page story detailing a church shooting.
On Wednesday in the Charleston’s Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, six women and three men were killed by a gunman. Police have arrested a 21 year old, Dylann Roof.
The next day, The Charleston Post and Courier‘s front page ran a sticky-note ad for a gun store over its coverage of the horrific mass murder. The ATP Gun Shop and Range ad was promoting “Ladies’ Night” at the gun range.
Accentuating the irrationality of the Charleston news, the paper puts an ad for a gun shop on the front page today. pic.twitter.com/GyAW4EcKF1
— Jonathan A. Neufeld (@jneuf) June 18, 2015
The paper received an influx of Facebook comments about the gun advertisement. It quickly apologised for the mistake:
“The front-page sticky note that was attached to some home delivery newspapers on the same day as this tragedy is a deeply regrettable coincidence,” the paper told a Facebook commenter. “We apologise to those who were offended.”
A spokesman for ATP GunShop and Range said the advertisements were planned weeks in advance and though it was “terrible timing”, the gun store “had no control over it”.
