Under pressure from gun-control advocates, Chicago-based Groupon abruptly canceled all gun-related deals in North America on Friday.

The move sparked anger and even boycotts from some gun business owners who say their deals were immensely popular and that the online coupon company failed to notify them of the change.

Gun control proponents applauded the move.

"We, along with other groups, had been applying pressure to Groupon for some time now because we were disturbed by the flippant nature of previous gun deals," said Ladd Everritt, director of communications at The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.

Groupon told The Huffington Post that representatives have been calling gun business owners since Friday afternoon to inform them of the firm's "hiatus" from gun-related deals. The company will honor any Groupon gun deals that were redeemed by customers before the announced cancellations, Groupon spokeswoman Julie Mossler said.