Scorsese’s Gun Grab

Martin Scorsese is responsible for some of the most violent movies in popular culture. Now, the “Goodfellas” director wants to do something about gun violence.

It’s Hollywood latest salvo against guns, driven by an industry that makes billions from movies with guns a-blazing.

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Scorsese is teaming with British artist Carl McCrow on a plan to eliminate real guns every time fake versions are used in a Hollywood production. The director adopted the Gun Neutral program on “Tomorrow,” his next film project. Scorsese is a producer on the late 2015 release that concerns a soldier with PTSD trying to acclimate to civilian life.

The guns being targeted by Scorsese and company are the ones left behind in war zones, according to McCrow’s plan. Fewer guns mean less violence, or so the campaign goes.

The director isn’t the only Hollywood talent speaking out against guns.

Liam Neeson, who resuscitated his career by starring in the action-soaked “Taken” trilogy, told reporters there are simply too many guns in the U.S.

He shared those thoughts earlier this year while drumming up interest in the third film in the franchise.

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Celebrities like Jamie Foxx, Beyonce, Jon Hamm and Jessica Alba starred in the 2012 “Demand a Plan” public-service announcement asking for stricter gun control laws. The video came in the wake of that year’s Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting that left 26 people dead, including 20 children. A subsequent video showing many of the same stars firing weapons onscreen came out days later, intending to mock the stars’ hypocrisy on the subject.

That Connecticut massacre convinced mega-producer Harvey Weinstein, the man behind Quentin Tarantino’s bloody film canon, to plot a summit about film violence. Weinstein wanted filmmakers to assess what impact the content has on society and how artists could responsibly move forward as a result.

“I have to choose movies that aren’t violent or as violent as they used to be.”

That forum never materialized. Nor did Weinstein keep his promise to stop producing violent films. Last year, he told CNN’s Piers Morgan that he’s had a change of heart regarding his taste in film projects.

“You have to look in the mirror, too. I have to choose movies that aren’t violent or as violent as they used to be. I know for me personally, you know, I can’t continue to do that. The change starts here. It has already. For me, I can’t do it. I can’t make one movie and say this is what I want for my kids and then just go out and be a hypocrite.”

Since then, his Weinstein Co. produced “No Escape,” a thriller opening this week that features significant and prolonged gun violence. This Christmas season, he’ll bring Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight” to theaters nationwide. The latter film has been described by Entertainment Weekly as both “bloody” and “brutal.”

Scorsese’s name bears an unfortunate connection to real-life violence. Scorsese’s 1976 film “Taxi Driver” was a factor in John Hinckley’s 1981 plot to kill President Ronald Reagan in order to impress one of the film’s co-stars, Jodie Foster.