National Restaurant Association repeatedly mistaken for National Rifle Association by Americans calling for tighter gun controls

People are complaining to their banks about NRA charges that actually came from the National Restaurant Association

In a bit of bad luck, the National Restaurant Association has accidentally found itself in the midst of the heated gun debate in America - as it shares the same initials as the National Rifle Association.

As the country battles the NRA, in this case the National Rifle Association, over the need for stricter gun laws, the National Restaurant Association has had to politely remind people that they only handle restaurants, not guns.

According to their website, the National Restaurant Association, which also unfortunately goes by the NRA, is “the largest food-service trade association in the world - supporting over 500,000 restaurant businesses.”

And rather than promoting guns, the National Restaurant Association promotes “entrepreneurship and hospitality” and advocates “for pro-restaurant regulation and operational freedom.”

However, initial reactions to charges by the National Restaurant Association have left people in a panic.

On Twitter, people are sharing their amusing mix-ups, as well as advising the 100-year-old National Restaurant Association that maybe it would be in their best interest to change their name.

"The National Restaurant Association should really change their name, their initials are being rubbed in the mud. Not the #NRA," wrote one person.

The confusion, which could realistically be cleared up with a quick search, also engulfed politician Tammy Duckworth, a double-amputee Iraq War veteran and Illinois’s junior senator.

Duckworth, who happens to be an outspoken critic of the NRA, tweeted: “It is not true that I received a $50 donation from the NRA. I received a donation from an employee of the National RESTAURANT Association.”

Eventually Duckworth’s spokesperson had to step in, telling CNBC: "The senator was never confused about which organisation supported her,” because, unfortunately for Duckworth and for the National Restaurant Association, people are still having trouble differentiating the NRAs.

But the National Restaurant Association isn’t too worried, as this has also happened in the past.

A spokesperson for the National Restaurant Association told CNBC: “Every once in a while this happens.”