Tampa, Florida – The nation continues to be shocked at the  death of a man who was shot by a retired police officer for texting inside a local movie theater. Reports say the man was texting to check on his young daughter.

Responding to the outrage over the unfortunate incident, AMC, the largest movie theater chain in the country, announced that beginning next month, it will impose a total ban on smart phones in screenings at all its theaters.

A spokesperson said that AMC is now in the process of installing mini-lockers at the entrances to its screening rooms and will require all movie patrons to deposit their smart phones under lock and key.  Anyone who refuses to deposit his or her smart phone will be denied entry into the theater.

As a result of this new policy, AMC will increase its movie ticket prices by a dollar to cover the cost of installing the lockers and employing additional security guards who will be frisking all movie patrons.

The spokesperson added that patrons who refuse to temporarily surrender their smart phones will not receive any refund for tickets purchased.  Rather, they will receive a $10 gift certificate from Netflix.

Reacting to the AMC announcement, an overjoyed movie patron exclaimed: “That’s great! Now there will be no need to show those annoying film clips during previews reminding the audience to silence their cell phones or refrain from texting during the movie.”