The NRA (National Rifle Association) has released a shooting range simulator for iOS, NRA: Practice Range. It’s a free game, where you can practice shooting on three types of range. Each has a different gun, and you have to pay if you want to use more guns.
The timing is unfortunate coming so soon after the tragic mass shootings in Connecticut. Last December the NRA’s own Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre blamed video games for violence in American society, saying,
“There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people. Through vicious, violent video games with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat and Splatterhouse.”
Some sites have been reporting this as ‘The NRA releases FPS for kids’, but this is actually unfair. The game has a 4+ rating in the App Store. This isn’t a recommendation that four year olds should play something, it just reflects the non-violent nature of the game. You can see how App Store ratings are chosen here.
This looks like a case of a poorly timed decision rather than a callous one. It may seem ironic that an organization that criticizes games has released one, but they may actually be trying to make a ‘responsible gun game.’
We can judge the game on its own merits. It’s dull, and with only three shooting ranges, very limited. Before each round you get a gun safety tip, like ‘always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction’. Even purchasing more guns can’t make NRA: Practice Range more compelling.
Instead of showing the world what a responsible shooting game looks like, NRA: Practice Range actually highlights how much more fun shooting games can be.
While there are certainly tasteless violent games in the market, by no means all games are violent, and games like 2012’s Dishonored have provoked deep discussion about the nature of violence in video games by giving players choice.
The NRA is wrong to blame video games for violence, but it’s also wrong to say the NRA has made a shooting game for kids.