On the one-month anniversary of Newtown's school shootings, the NRA has released a new first-person shooter game for iPad and iPhone.
This action is particularly outrageous considering NRA's blaming of Hollywood films and other video games for the rise in mass shootings. Even more outrageous, NRA and game developer Apple are promoting NRA: Practice Range as "educational." Before public outcry drove them to upgrade their recommended age to preteens, Apple originally rated the game as appropriate for children as young as four years old.
The gameplay also includes virtual assault rifles for purchase within the app. If children, for example, want to use a deadlier weapon while playing the game, they can upgrade to an MK-11 for 99 cents. And, although the targets in the game are not people, they look very much like coffins, with red bullseyes where the human head and heart would be.
This game is a slap in the face to educators, parents and especially the families of victims of the Newtown school shootings. Ask Apple to ban this game from its stores.
We, the undersigned, strongly object to the marketing of this violent shooter game and especially its designation as educational and appropriate for children as young as twelve.
Furthermore we find NRA's promotion of its guns in this and other games extremely hypocritical in light of its recent targeting of "modern entertainment" for the rise in mass shootings and the violence at Sandy Hook Elementary.
Atlantic Wire quotes NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre criticizing a "'...callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people'" and complaining about it being called "'entertainment.'" LaPierre went on to compare "fantasizing about killing people" to the "filthiest form of pornography," says AW.
AW's pairing of LaPierre's statement with the game's description, which says it allows players to "enjoy the most authentic experience possible," - an experience that involves shooting images that look like coffins with red bulleyes where a human head and heart would be - further highlight NRA's hypocricy in marketing this new game.
Even more outrageous is NRA's exhibit of famous firearms, including those used in films, running simultaneously with LaPierre's criticism of the film industry.
For NRA to continue to argue against gun control after the mass shooting at Newtown and then release such a violent game on the tragedy's one-month anniversary is beyond hypocritical and insensitive.
We ask Apple to ban this game from stores immediately.
