NRA's New Shooting App Perfect for Ages 4 and Up

The NRA is catching more than a little flak over the marketing of its new free app, "NRA: Practice Range." The virtual shooting-range experience isn't appropriate for 3-year-olds—but those ages four and up can fire away, per its 4+ age-rating in Apple's App Store. The game is described as "the NRA's new mobile nerve center" and features links to different areas of the NRA website, TheNextWeb reports.

Between rounds of shooting—users can upgrade from an M9 handgun by way of 99-cent in-app purchases—players get tips on gun safety, like "store guns so that they are not accessible to unauthorized persons." In the post-Newtown gun debate, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre has pointed the finger at violent video games. He didn't mention this one, notes Geekosystem in an article titled, "NRA Blames Violent Video Games for Shootings, Releases Violent Video Game in Response." Quips TheAppSide, "Is now the best time for a National Rifle Association 3D shooting game? We’d suggest not." (More iPhone apps stories.)