NRA game relabeled for older children

WASHINGTON -- A new shooting game for mobile devices offered by the National Rifle Association is no longer being labeled suitable for preschoolers.

"NRA: Practice Range" changed its age recommendation yesterday from 4 years and up to at least 12 years of age with a warning that the game depicts "intense" and "realistic" violence.

But Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that didn't go far enough and called for restricting the app to ages 17 and up.

The release of the game Sunday aroused pushback from liberal organizations that called it tasteless and its timing politically motivated. A progressive advocacy organization, Courage Campaign, circulated a petition online Tuesday asking Apple to drop the free mobile application from its store.

"This is a classic example of everything that is wrong with the NRA. Instead of coming to the table with constructive ideas to reduce gun violence, the NRA is . . . developing a video game that glorifies guns and gun violence," said Adam Bink, director of the group's online programs.

Apple declined to comment.

The NRA did not respond to repeated calls for comment. It also hasn't claimed ownership of the game.

But the app refers to itself as the "National Rifle Association's new mobile nerve center, delivering one-touch access to the NRA network of news, laws, facts, knowledge, safety tips, educational materials and online resources." The main menu in the game includes an NRA information section that leads users to the lobbying group's website.

MEDL Media of Fountain Valley, Calif., which developed the game, did not respond to requests for comment. The New York Times reported late yesterday that MEDL had confirmed the game was commissioned by the NRA.

In just two days, the mobile app generated more than 300 online reviews. That jumped to 519 by late yesterday, with an overwhelming number of reviews praising the NRA for defending the Second Amendment to the Constitution and teaching firearms safety.

The game actually sounds more stirring than it is, a high-tech pamphlet to disseminate the NRA's political message. The game lets a user fire various simulated weapons to hit targets on shooting ranges.

The app does not depict the shooting of living targets. With Newsday staff