In the three weeks after the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, the National Rifle Association nearly doubled its spending on Facebook ads promoting the NRA’s gun-rights, anti-regulatory policy stances, The Intercept reports. At one point in this period, the NRA was spending $29,000 on a day’s worth of Facebook ads, nearly four times as much as before the shootings, according to Pathmatics, a company that monitors online advertising spending.
The ad surge after El Paso and Dayton came more quickly than a similar uptick after last year’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which was followed by a brief NRA advertising hiatus. But then, as now, the NRA eventually ramped up its Facebook spending. According to a 2018 Chicago Tribune report, also based on Pathmatics data, the NRA’s average daily spending on Facebook ads quadrupled for 24 days after Parkland, to $47,300. NRA’s ads included the characterization of American gun ownership as something under attack and threatened, according to images and videos of the material provided by Pathmatics. “Show that you won’t be intimidated by the toxic anti-gun hatred and threats,” reads one ad, which began running three days after El Paso. “Punishing law-abiding gun owners is NOT the answer!” read another frequently used ad image.