Gun violence in PG-13 movies has more than tripled since 1985

That number has even exceeded the violence of R-rated films in recent years, according to the Internet Movie Firearms Database

There has always been a pretty fiery debate when it comes to the PG-13 certificate, ever since its introduction - as suggested by Steven Spielberg - in July 1984; in response to complaints about graphic content in the PG-rated Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Gremlins.

Over time, there's been a growing argument that studios have been pushing the limits of the age rating in an attempt to profit off the maximum range of potential audiences; for films which would otherwise have been a better target for the adult-orientated R-rating. And it looks as if the numbers may actually back up this view.

According to the Internet Movie Firearms Database's crowd-sourced data collection, gun violence in PG-13 films has more than tripled since 1985 (via The Economist); in recent years, that number has even exceeded the violence of R-rated films.

Furthermore, the median number of weapon models featured in films appears to have increased by 11% from 1995 to 2015; with evidence that the onscreen use of firearms actually influences the US market for weapons, as Die Hard 2's use of a (fictional) Glock model in 1990 actually drove up sales for the company's pistols to over 300,000 by the end of that year, allowing them to begin production on new models.

2013's Lone Survivor even allegedly made a $250,000 product placement deal with Beretta; so that its tale of a SEAL counter-insurgency mission in Afghanistan saw its soldiers swap out their usual models for Beretta's .45s. These kinds of deals are, however, thought to be very rare in the film industry.

The increase in onscreen gun violence can certainly be attributed to a larger genre shift; in the 1930s, action movies made up only 4% of the highest-grossing films; now that number is around 34%. However, considering the visibility cinema gives to firearms and its subsequent effects on real-world markets, a conversation certainly needs to be had as to the potential effects of having such levels of visibility in PG-13 films.