When it comes to guns regulations and safety the NRA has always taken lots of criticism (some of which is deserved) on their standings. Even when their spokespeople make a comment that most people agree with at the time it usually ends up in criticism of the gun rights organization. Such is the case of when, after the Sandy Hook school shootings, the NRA came out against violent video games and then a video game came out Monday called the NRA practice range.
The game is released by MEDL mobile, Inc. is said to be officially licensed by the NRA even though the NRA hasn't confirmed or denied the statement. Currently it is only available at the Apple app store for Iphone and Ipad. The game has three different shooting gallery backgrounds an indoor range like the ones you would see at any gun club or police station, an outdoor gallery with pop up targets and skeet shooting. The game app also does include shooting safety tips and links to the NRA website where you can find out about gun safety and legislation.
"It's outrageous. The NRA never seems to be able to amaze me," said Joel Faxon, a member of Newtown's Police Commission, who described himself as a longtime gun owner
One of the biggest criticisms of the NRA though isn't that the app seems to be contrary to their stand on violent video games but the release date of the app. The app came out January 14, 2013 exactly one month over the December 14, 2012 shooting at the Newtown, Connecticut school. Since Apple has to approve all apps before they get place in the app store it might have been submitted at an earlier date. "We're both speculating if we try to guess whether NRA and the developer had this in their back pocket, waiting for the right time, or whether the release date is mere accident," Ian Bogost, Professor of interactive computing at the Georgia Instatute of Technology said. "It's also not clear exactly how involved the NRA was in its release. The game seems to have been an officially licensed NRA product, but that might just mean that the developer had the rights to use the NRA name."
The app itself is free to download but there is some in-app purchasing if you want different guns to use in target shooting.
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