The National Rifle Association (NRA) deactivated its Facebook page on Saturday, December 15, just one day after the Newtown school shooting. Last week, the NRA boasted on its page about the organization’s 1.7 millionth “like” on Facebook. Since the Connecticut tragedy, the NRA has neither issued a public statement nor posted anything to its Twitter feed.

As of 9:45 a.m. Eastern time today, visitors to the NRA’s webpage who seek to contact the organization receive a “please provide valid message” error; the NRA has not responded to an emailed request from Fast Company for comment.

One social media marketing expert tells Fast Company that shuttering the Facebook page was a mistake. According to Likeable Media CEO and Likeable Business author Dave Kerpen, the NRA should have kept the page online and “welcomed the conversation . . . as difficult as it may be. No message sometimes is a message.”

[Image: Flickr user Mrbill]