NRA Releases 'Practice Range' Shooting App
By: NBC News
Updated: January 15, 2013
Just weeks after the National Rifle Association forcefully blamed violent video games for gun violence, the gun-rights organization has released a new shooter game for kids as young as four.
NRA: Practice Range, a new app in the iTunes store, was released Sunday by the nation's largest gun-industry lobby. It features a 3D-shooting range and offers users simulated target practice.
The game's launch comes one month after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., which touched off a national debate over how to limit gun violence.
"Guns don't kill people. Video games, the media and Obama's budget kill people," NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said at a Dec. 21 press conference where he addressed the tragedy at Sandy Hook. "There exists in this country, sadly, a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and stows violence against its own people, through vicious, violent video games with names like 'Bulletstorm,' 'Grand Theft Auto,' 'Mortal Kombat' and 'Splatterhouse.'"
The free app, recommended for ages 4 and up, according to the iTunes rating system, "offers a 3D shooting game that instills safe and responsible ownership through fun challenges and realistic simulations," says the app's description. "It strikes the right balance of gaming and safety education, allowing you to enjoy the most authentic experience possible."
Users don't shoot live subjects in the app, but instead are given an M9 handgun and sent to target practice in three immersive shooting ranges.
The NRA says the app "puts the organization's broad scope of resources in the palm of your hand - with 2nd Amendment newsfeeds, gun law information centers and educational materials that you can access anywhere, anytime."
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