iPhone apps glamorise gun culture, claims newspaper

Reports in Associated Newspapers owned newspapers claim a series of iPhone and iPod touch apps help glamorise gun culture, particularly among young people.

Led by London's Evening Standard, the sale of such apps has caused "outrage among anti-gun campaigners," claim the reports.

Claudia Webbe, the chair of an independent advisory group for the Metropolitan Police's Operation Trident gun-crime force, told the Evening Standard: "This is hugely irresponsible in a climate when we are trying to get guns off the streets.

"I am stunned this game should ever have been allowed to have been made. We have spent years trying to get imitation guns out of shops and this sort of product undermines that effort."

John Beyer of mediawatch UK added: "In view of recent events in Northern Ireland and elsewhere, I think anything that glamorises guns and shooting is in extremely poor taste. I would hope that whoever is responsible for this would withdraw it immediately."

Listed as entertainment, the apps from French company Damabia include Boom!BOOM! Shotgun Pro, Boom!BOOM! Shotgun Free, Bang!BANG!, Bang!BANG! OG Edition and Tak!TAK!.

The apps are either free or cost 59p and have a 9+ rating on the Apple Store for "Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes" and "Infrequent/Mild Realistic Violence."

A press release sent out on behalf of Damabia last week describes Boom!BOOM! Shotgun Pro Edition as recreating the "childhood game of playing cops and robbers". The apps first became available in February and March of this year.

The "Apple distributed guns" were the main topic of conversation Monday afternoon on LBC radio, billed as "London's biggest conversation".