(WAVY)-You can expect some policy changes at a local movie theater.
Regal cinemas group, which has a location at Valley View Mall in Roanoke, Christiansburg and in Lynchburg is now checking bags and purses before moviegoers are let into the theater.
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On their website, they say it's to keep everyone safe, but some people say it's a violation of their privacy.
If you've packed a bag to go see the newest blockbuster, you might want to leave a little early for the theater.
"All they did was open and look, they didn't actually go through it," said Jay Weinisch.
Weinisch and his wife Dawn first noticed a new policy earlier this month.
"Two weeks ago we were here, I was surprised, but, it was perfectly fine with me. I thought they were looking for the water and they were going to take it away," Dawn Weinsich said.
They aren't looking for bottles of water, but perhaps for something else.
A sign posted on ticket windows shows backpacks and bags of any kind are subject to search.
"With the recent news, I expected it to be sooner than this," one moviegoer said.
Regal Entertainment Group owns hundreds of theaters nationwide, and several throughout Southwest Virginia. A policy on its website cites security issues that quote have become a daily part of our lives in America.
It's one that movie theatre regular Shirley Wilkie says she understands.
"I think that anything that will protect the citizens, people should have the patience to go through that," Wilkie said.
But, some on the Regal Cinema's facebook page claim it's turning them away.
"Will not, under any circumstances return to a regal theater since you instituted the bag search policy," one person wrote.
Another poster says "Do you guys want to go out of business? Hassling women to check their purses?" And yet another calls the policies, unjust and unfriendly to law abiding citizens.
Jay Weinisch says he doesn't mind being slightly inconvenienced if it keeps him safe.
"I understand that, but I think it would be nice if people didn't have guns in the movie theaters. I don't think it's that much to ask."