America’s largest cinema chain has introduced compulsory bag searches for filmgoers following a spate of shootings at cinemas across the country.
Regal, which has around 570 cinemas, said that it had updated its admittance policy to make customers and staff feel safe. “Security issues have become a daily part of our lives in America,” the company said in a statement to explain why it has become the first large US cinema chain to take the step.
“To ensure the safety of our guests and employees, backpacks and bags of any kind are subject to inspection prior to admission.”
The change in approach follows a shooting inside a privately owned Southern Theatres cinema in Lafayette, Louisiana, last month during a screening of the comedy Trainwreck. Two people were killed and seven wounded. The following week in Nashville, Tennessee, a man with a hatchet and a pellet gun unleashed pepper spray during a showing of Mad Max: Fury Road at a Carmike Cinemas Inc multiplex. He was later killed by police.
Two weeks ago a Colorado court sentenced James Holmes, a mentally ill neuroscience graduate, to life in prison without parole for killing 12 people and wounding 70 at Colorado cinema in 2012 during a screening of the Batman film The Dark Knight Rises.
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The new policy has not gone down well with some cinema-goers. “Regal is using your safety as an excuse to keep people from sneaking in snacks and drinks,” said one Twitter user. Another said the search policy denied Americans the chance to protect themselves.