Erik McGregor/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — On the first day of “Wear Orange Weekend,” the National Rifle Association and gun control advocates traded barbs on Twitter.
Wear Orange Weekend is an initiative started by Everytown for Gun Safety, an organization launched in 2014 by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg to lobby for more stringent gun control.
Supporters were encouraged to wear orange starting all weekend starting on Friday, June 1, which is National Gun Violence Awareness Day.
Early Friday morning, the NRA changed its logo on Twitter to orange, and tweeted that “Orange has always been ours.”
“Orange has been hunters and sportsmen’s choice for decades,” the NRA said in a later tweet. “No organization in the world does more than the NRA to promote the safe and responsible use of firearms.”
Orange is the color traditionally worn by hunters because of its high visibility. In some states, hunters are required to wear at least some orange clothing in an effort to avoid hunting accidents.
Gun control activists tweeted back at the NRA, including Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jamie died in the February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
Wear Orange Weekend continues through Sunday, June 3, and organizers say it will be marked by hundreds of events nationwide.
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