Steven Seagal has become America's new weapon against gun crime as he lead an arms training event simulating a school shooting in Arizona.

The film star famous for shooting bad guys on screen has taken on a new role teaching posse volunteers to defend Phoenix-area schools against gunmen.

The martial arts expert-turned-actor took 48 volunteers through various aspects of shooting scene management, including room-to-room searches, critiquing their work.

"I am here to try to teach the posse firearms and martial arts to try to help them learn how to respond quicker and help protect our children," Seagal said.

Controversial Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who styles himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff," enlisted Seagal's help to train the Maricopa County posse members at a school in Fountain Hills on how to use guns to protect students during shooting incidents.

"It's important to help protect our children and our schools and we need to do that with whatever means we have," said Rick Velotta, a posse member who attended the training.

Arpaio, whose tough stance on crime and illegal immigration has made him a celebrity, dispatched the volunteer posse to patrol schools in response to the shooting rampage that claimed 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut school in December.