Hollywood stars including Amy Schumer, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo published an open letter on Monday calling for movies and TV shows to lead by example when it comes to firearms.
This open letter was written in response to the massacre of 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school in late May and an earlier deadly shooting in Buffalo.
She has also been signed by famous producers such as JJ Abrams (“Lost”), Shonda Rhimes (“Bridgerton”) and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy.
“Cultural attitudes toward smoking, drinking and driving, seat belts, and equality in marriage have evolved in part through the influence of film and television. It’s time to start addressing the dangers of guns,” said the letter, released by the Brady Campaign, an association calling for stricter gun control in the United States.
“We’re not asking everyone to stop showing guns on screen. We ask screenwriters, directors and producers to be aware of on-screen gun violence and to promote safety in the use of these weapons.”
For example, the films could show the characters locking the safety catch on their gun. Teams could also try to find an alternative to guns in certain scenes without “compromising the integrity of the narrative.”
Noting that the number of gun deaths has recently exceeded that of car accidents among young Americans, the open letter calls on industry experts to “limit scenes involving both children and guns.”
According to official statistics, a total of 4,368 American children and young people under the age of 20 were killed by guns in 2020.
More than 200 Hollywood celebrities, including Jimmy Kimmel, Judd Apatow and Adam McKay, signed the letter.
They point out that while guns are ubiquitous in shows and films around the world, “only America has such an epidemic of violence.”
“The blame lies with lax gun laws, backed by politicians who care more about staying in power than saving lives,” they write. “We didn’t cause the problem, but we want to help solve it.”