The American Rifleman's logo. (Photo: Twitter)

This morning, as the world reacted to the news of the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado that left 12 people dead, the American Rifleman, an official journal of the National Rifle Association, sent a rather insensitive message from their Twitter account.

"Good morning, shooters. Happy Friday! Weekend plans?" the tweet said.

The message quickly provoked outraged responses from hundreds of other Twitter users including Keith Olbermann and the Columbia Journalism Review. Within three hours, it was deleted and no new messages have been posted on the American Rifleman account.

NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told The Politicker the tweet was being "completely taken out of context."

"A single individual, unaware of events in Colorado, tweeted a comment that is being completely taken out of context," Mr. Arulanandam said.

View a screengrab of the original American Rifleman tweet below.

Update (4:54 pm): The American Rifleman account now appears to have been taken down entirely. 

(Updated with comment from the NRA 1:26 pm)