'NRA: Practice Range' Game Removed From Apple App Store

An iPhone app from the National Rifle Association (NRA) has been removed from the iOS App Store following an online protest against Apple and other tech firms that urged the companies to cut ties with the gun rights advocacy group.

“NRA: Practice Range” was taken off the iOS App Store earlier this week. The game, which was made available for free through Apple’s app marketplace, allowed players to fire at targets with a variety of guns including an AR-15.

The game was developed for the NRA by mobile application development firm MEDL Mobile and released in 2013—just weeks after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. When the game was first released, it was derided by critics and sparked an online petition calling for Apple to remove the game from its App Store.

The mobile game allowed players to shoot at a variety of targets, firing at virtual gun ranges and taking aim at skeet. While the game was free, players could pay to unlock more powerful firearms that couldn’t otherwise be accessed.

MEDL Mobile distanced itself from the NRA and from the game in a comment provided to Polygon. A spokesperson for MEDL Mobile said, “The company stopped working with the NRA in 2013. The company was later sold in 2016 to new ownership and maintains no connections to or relationship with the NRA.”

Neither Apple nor the NRA has commented on the decision to remove the game from the App Store. It is not clear if the NRA removed the title or if Apple made the choice to remove the app from its platform.

The removal of the app came on the same day that online protesters chose to target a number of tech companies including Apple in attempts to pressure them to cut ties with the NRA and remove content from the gun rights advocacy group.

Organized under the banner #March1NRABoycott, the protests were led by celebrities like Alyssa Milano and Debra Messing, along with several well-known activists including Shannon Coulter —the organizer of the #GrabYourWallet protests that have encouraged boycotts of businesses that carry Trump products.

That effort targeted tech giants that distribute NRA content. Amazon, Apple and Roku all carry the NRA TV app, which the organization uses to distribute original content that it produces. YouTube has also been targeted for the protest for hosting the NRA TV channel.

Despite the protests, the NRA TV app remains available on all major platforms. Roku specifically rejected requests to remove the app from its platform, telling consumers in a statement that the company shares “deep sadness about the recent tragedy that occurred in Florida,” but “voices on all sides of an issue or cause are free to operate a channel” on Roku.