PRINCIPLE #1
Model responsible gun ownership, especially secure storage. Show consequences for reckless gun use.
Empowering Hollywood in the Movement to End Gun Violence
Guns are prominently featured in TV and movies across the globe, but only America has a gun violence epidemic. Hollywood didn’t cause the problem, but it can help fix it.
We've trained and met with over 2,000 screenwriters, producers, and studio executives about how to responsibly depict firearms in film and television, and we're partnering with major players like Paramount, Walt Disney Studios, and CBS Studios. To date, an estimated 150 million viewers have watched projects Brady has influenced, and we’ve met with shows ranging from CBS Studio's crime drama Tulsa King to Netflix’s family drama Little House on the Prairie.
And the best part? The steps are simple — and natural. We’re not asking to take guns out of storytelling. We’re asking writers, directors, and producers to be thoughtful and intentional. Our Show Gun Safety team works in partnership with creative leaders to positively shift attitudes toward gun safety without impeding storytelling independence. By helping Hollywood model safer behaviors around guns, we’re not just changing the story — we’re saving lives.
Our Show Gun Safety Principles
-
-
PRINCIPLE #2
Have at least one conversation during pre-production on the way guns will be portrayed on screen.
-
PRINCIPLE #3
Limit scenes including children and guns.
With guns the #1 cause of death for kids in America, even small choices on screen — like naturally showing a gun safe — can prevent a tragedy and save lives.
Film and TV Making a Difference —
-
SCREAM 7
Amid the usual jump scares and plot twists, there’s an important safety lesson in the latest installment of "Scream." And it’s likely something you didn’t even notice: firearms stored locked up in a safe.
As a fiercely loving and protective mom, it makes sense that Sidney Prescott would store and handle her guns responsibly, writes Brady President Kris Brown in USA Today.
-
Tulsa King
In season two, Cole Dunmire teaches his girlfriend Spencer about firearm and shooting safety. As he retrieves a firearm from secure storage, he explains, "The first rule of guns is safety first. Safety always. Especially if you have kids. ...Always assume the gun is loaded and never point it anything you're not intending to shoot."
-
Little House on the Prairie
The reboot by CBS Studios/Netflix portrays period-appropriate (1870s-80s) safe firearm storage, which includes firearms hung on wall hooks or stored in trunks or chests, or strongboxes. It was also common practice — especially among experienced hunters like Charles Ingalls — to store ammunition separately from firearms. These depictions align with the representation of Charles and Caroline Ingalls as caring and responsible parents dedicated to keeping their home and family safe.
-
Sheriff Country
The show often depicts how firearms can escalate rather than diffuse a dangerous situation. Safe firearm storage and handling is shown as the norm, including at shooting ranges and through use of guns safes. The danger of unsecured firearms is also shown, including with a gun taken from a car used in a firearm suicide.
-
S.W.A.T.
In episode 3 of season 7, Sergeant Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson returns home after a shift and naturally locks up his service firearm in a biometric safe. The scene reinforces the message of safe gun storage — without drawing attention away from the plot. It also aligns with Hondo's depiction as a responsible law enforcement officer and new father keeping his home safe for his toddler. (Photo credit: Bill Inoshita/Sony Pictures Television/CBS)
-
STATION 19
For season 3, episode 2, we assisted Station 19's portrayal of an extreme risk protection order (ERPO), an important tool to prevent suicide and mass shootings by temporarily removing access to guns from someone in crisis. Actor Jason George, who plays Dr. Ben Warren, used his platform to draw attention to the scene and spread awareness about this life-saving solution.
"Every time another mass shooting happens, it just upsets everybody and yet people feel like there’s nothing they can do until Congress passes laws. Well, in the creative community, here’s something we can do."
Meet With Us!
Our experts cover suicide prevention, child safety, veterans issues, ghost guns, hunter safety, police firearm use, medical care, and more. We also offer script consultation and can provide trainings and presentations to your writers room or team. We want to help! Email us at [email protected].
Why Showing Gun Safety — Including Secure Storage — Matters
-
4.6 million children live in homes with unlocked and loaded firearms.
And 65% of gun owners keep at least one firearm unlocked, contributing to preventable tragedies. But if we could inspire even 20% more households to practice secure firearm storage, we could prevent one-third of all youth gun deaths from suicide and unintentional shootings.
-
Research shows that people emulate their favorite TV characters.
Our reality mirrors what we see on screen. When our favorite characters on screen started buckling up in the '80s and '90s, rates of seatbelt use increased. And when smoking largely disappeared from movies and TV, cigarette use sharply declined. That’s the power of storytelling. We have that opportunity when it comes to reducing gun violence.
-
Children who watch movies with characters using guns are more likely to dangerously play with firearms.
Movies aren't shown to make people more violent, but they can normalize unsafe behaviors. A study in JAMA Pediatrics found that children who found a strategically hidden firearm were far more likely to pull the trigger if they had just watched a clip from a movie that featured the firing of firearms.
“I’ve written a lot of stories over the years that involve firearms, and I’ve already changed how I portray gun safety in the home since signing Brady’s pledge...”
Sign the show gun safety pledge
In the wake of the horrific school shooting in Uvalde, TX, in 2022, former film executive and writer Christy Callahan conceived of a strategy for Brady to engage the creative community around the portrayal of guns on TV and in movies. Having volunteered with Brady for years, she saw an opportunity to channel the industry’s grief and outrage into action.
Through conversations with television and film writers, directors, and producers, Callahan developed Brady's Show Gun Safety principles as the basis of the Hollywood Open Letter, for which Callahan recruited more than 200 signatories, including Oscar and Emmy winners such as Shonda Rhimes, J.J. Abrams, and Adam McKay. The Open Letter drew national media attention as the first major collective statement from Hollywood addressing the portrayal of guns onscreen. The three principles form the foundation of Brady’s Show Gun Safety campaign.