Tom Selleck leaves the NRA board of directors

The star of "Blue Bloods", Tom Selleck, has left the board of the National Rifle Association.

Selleck, 73, has been a member of the NRA since the age of 8, reported The Trace Tuesday, a non-profit website on gun violence in America. He also received the most votes in the 2017 council election. A spokesman said he had resigned because of his time commitments.

Selleck, an arms collector, donated a few rifles and revolvers from his films to the NRA National Firearms Museum.

Annett Wolf, the actor's publicist, told The Trace that Selleck had resigned from the board "because of his work schedule," but that he was never really "active" on the board.

Selleck is still a member of the NRA, Wolf said.

Wolf confirmed to Fox News that Selleck had resigned from the board of directors and declined to comment further. A request for comment from the NRA was not immediately answered.

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"It has nothing to do with politics," Wolf said at the exit. "He has never been active on the board or anything the NRA does, he has almost always been a silent member of the board."

The former face of "Magnum P.I." was criticized after commenting on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" in 1999 for his defense of firearms. He participated in the talk show to promote the movie "The Love Letter", but instead had a debate with O'Donnell on weapons following the Columbine massacre.

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"But you can not say that the weapons carry no responsibility," O'Donnell said. "If the manufacturers of the TEC-9 assault rifle … Why was the NRA not against assault rifles? This is a gun that can shoot five bullets in one second. It is the weapon that these boys brought to the school. Why did the NRA not say, by compromise: "We agree, the assault weapons are not good".

"I'm not … I can not speak on behalf of the NRA," he said.

"But you're their spokesman Tom, so you have to be responsible for what they say," O'Donnell said.

"But I'm not a spokesperson. I am not a spokesman for the NRA, "said Selleck.

MSNBC star Lawrence O'Donnell also spoke about Selleck's role in the NRA in 2013 following Sandy Hook's shooting, saying he was questioning Selleck's "humanity".