Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush has prompted a flood of praise, outrage and mockery on Twitter after posting a photograph of a handgun under the one-word caption “America”.

The former Florida governor — who did not immediately explain the photo of the pistol inscribed with his name — posted it after visiting the weapons maker FN Manufacturing in Columbia, South Carolina.

Candidates for the Republican presidential nomination are campaigning in the state ahead of its primary on Saturday.

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Mr Bush is polling fourth with about 10 per cent of the vote.

His tweet received more than 7,000 likes and 9,000 retweets within an hour and a half of its posting — a record for his account, whose posts rarely rack up more than 100 retweets.

America. pic.twitter.com/TeduJkwQF3

— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) February 16, 2016

In response, scores of others posted different photos under the heading “America”, including the wrestler Hulk Hogan playing a guitar, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers pretending to smoke marijuana and former president Ronald Reagan riding a dinosaur.

National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden retweeted Bush’s post with the comment “Delete your account”.

Another pointed out the gun was actually made in Belgium.

Others called attention to what President Barack Obama has called an “epidemic” of gun violence.

Several tweets with the caption “America” included photos of the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook School massacre in 2012.

Republican lawmakers, many of whom are backed by the powerful lobby group the National Rifle Association (NRA), blocked Mr Obama’s attempt to pass gun control legislation after the incident.

The United States saw 372 mass shootings in 2015 in which 475 people were killed and 1,870 wounded, according to the Mass Shooting Tracker, which catalogues such incidents.

– agencies