Apple responded to political pressure over the "NRA: Practice Range" app by raising the game's age limit from 4 to 12.
It still isn't clear at this point what connection the National Rifle Association has to the app, which is described as an "official NRA licensed product" on iTunes.
"Apple did the right thing by acknowledging that this game isn't for young children, but (the company) should go farther and make the restrictions as tight as possible," Sen Chuck Schumer, D-NY told the New York Daily News. "The NRA has acted in an unbelievably hypocritical fashion by blaming the nation's gun violence on video games and movies, then coming out with a game — for children — featuring assault weapons."
The app allows shooters to chose weapons, including an M-9 handgun, Colt M16 and AK-47 assault rifles, and shoot targets that resemble coffins. Apple didn't comment on the decision to raise the age limit, but raised the age after receiving a letter complaining about its rating from Schumer and other politicians addressed to Apple chief Tim Cook.
Other politicians, such as Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said the NRA iOS app's release on Jan. 13, the month anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, was considered offensive. “How could they think it was a good idea to use the one month anniversary of the tragedy at Sandy Hook to release a game that teaches four-year-olds to shoot assault weapons?" Murphy said in a statement.
The app, which has 3-D simulated gun violence, isn't appropriate for 4-year-olds, and it makes us wonder how Apple decides on its ratings or if it simply takes them at face value from the developer. We hope it's not the latter.
