Yes, in that case the target was the NRA; in this case the target is more general: it is reinforcement of the idea that the-south-is-populated-by-racists. Compare the reaction in this case of a certifiably mentally ill young man who murdered nine people with the response to an incident a few years earlier where a mature, accomplished man murdered 13 and injured more than 30 others. In the first case we are told - because the young man was a racist and possessed the Confederate flag - that the flag is for everyone a symbol of racism, that the Confederacy and everything about it is racist, and all signs of it should be eliminated from society.
And how was the earlier case handled? All references to the man’s background and motivation for the slaughter were dismissed as irrelevant. We were in fact told in that case not to believe that others who shared his background also shared the particular belief that led to his rampage.
The wonder is not that the politically inclined would address these cases in such diametrically opposite ways - the wonder is that so many people can be influenced to accept whatever is presented.
Ender
