Irish actor Colin Farrell refuses to own a gun over fears it could land him in trouble if he started drinking again.

The Phone Booth star's latest movie, Dead Man Down, culminates in a bloody shootout and the actor admits his gun-toting character prompted him to consider the issue of firearms ownership.

Farrell has been sober for seven years after battling drug and alcohol abuse, but is convinced a relapse could be very dangerous if he owned a gun.

He tells Britain's Daily Mail, "I don't want one. I wouldn't trust myself to have a gun. What if I got drunk again? What if I got my heart broken and I go crazy for a bit, or, even worse, what if I forget to lock my gun away somewhere and someone has an accident? I forget my car keys all the time, so why not that?

"Americans say, 'Oh but it's our constitutional right, we're all grown-ups, give us guns,' well, don't give me a gun, because I'm a human being."

Farrell's native Ireland has some of the strictest gun laws in Europe, but the actor now lives in the U.S.