After the group's app made a bit of a stir when it debuted the other day, the official description for NRA: Practice Range lists the age reccomendation as 12 and up on iTunes, from its former recommendation.
The organization was labeled as hypocritical for releasing the app, and received a fair bit of criticism for originally reccomending the app to children as young as four.
"It is the height of hypocrisy," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told CBS News. "If you remember the head of the NRA's speech on television, he blamed violent children's games for causing things like the terrible tragedy in Connecticut." Bloomberg was referring to NRA spokesman Wayne LaPierre's response to the shooting at Newtown, blaming it on violent media, specifically the video game industry, which he labeled as "a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and stows violence against its own people through vicious and violent video games."
Users pick from either an indoor or outdoor target range, or a round of skeet shooting, and are offered various gun safety tips while the app loads, such as "Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction." The app also boasts both analog and gyroscopic controls for their weapons. Users are also provided with various news and legislation updates pertinent to NRA enthusiasts.
To avoid the dilemma of being accused of profitting from virtual gun violence, a charge the organization has levied at the video games industry, the app is free to download. However, like many other apps on the market, it does ask users to fork over the dough if they want more options.
Whatever your personal feelings are towards the organization, the NRA could take a lesson from the industry they've hurled charges at, as Practice Range suffers from non-responsive controls, and abyssmal load times.
The NRA has yet to comment on the controversy surrounding the app, though the app's developer MEDL Mobile did say via Twitter that the app's purpose was "to promote gun safety, not 'for kids aged 4+.'" The tweet was later deleted.
