A coffee shop hold-up has prompted actor Beau Bridges to urge politicians to fight for tighter gun control laws.

The Descendants star grew up hunting with his grandfather and he himself trained in the military with a rifle but Bridges is adamant America should foster stronger legislation, so weapons don't fall into the wrong hands.

And he has one terrifying experience to back up his concern.

He tells the New York Daily News, "Many years ago, probably when I was in my late 20s, I got held up at a little coffee shop in Los Angeles. I could feel the cold steel in between my eyes. It becomes a very personal situation when something like that happens. My spirit left my body.

"I thought I was out of here (dead). It's something you never forget. The guy ended up shooting someone in the restaurant in the leg.

"I ran out and called the cops. They got the guy... That just gave me another reason to understand that we have to understand the power of guns, and make sure they don't get into the wrong people's hands."