By now you have heard about the shooting accident in which Alec Baldwin shot and killed a camera man.

I mentioned this here before.  Unloaded guns have killed hundreds of people.

When I played a reporter in the play Take a Number Darling in the Roswell Little Theater production I was supposed to hold the entire cast at gunpoint in one scene.

They didn't have prop gun so the director brought in his .38 revolver he wanted me to use.  I refused, telling him I would not point a real gun at anybody now matter how many people assured me it was unload.  We had a big row about it and I threatened to walk out unless he got a toy gun for me to use.

He relented and went to WalMart or K-Mart and bought a toy gun.

The rest of the cast thanked me for standing up to him.  I'm sure they didn't want someone pointed a real .38 at them no matter how many people told them it was not loaded.

This tragedy could have been avoided as most of the 'unloaded' gun accidents could have been avoided.  Pointing or waving an 'unloaded' gun at or around people is nothing short of stupid.  Having been a gun safety instructor at various times in my life I get pretty riled up at stories like these.

Before shooting or playing or rehearsing a scene it is actor's responsibility to make sure the gun is actually prop and incapable of firing real bullets.

Here is the story.

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/21/1048246249/woman-killed-alec-baldwin-film-prop-firearm-new-mexico 

Noel

Geez!  I thought it was the prop master who was responsible for loading firearms.  Why would the prop master or anyone put live ammo into a prop gun?

I don't know who's responsible for loading the firearm but Noel's right. It's absolutely the first duty of anyone handing a firearm under any circumstance to verify the state of the weapon. The ultimate fault here lies with Baldwin. 

Was reading the story this morning.  The gun WAS loaded with blanks.  The rule is that no one should be within 20 feet when it is fired.  Blanks supposedly have a wax plug holding the gunpowder in place and that may have been the projectile.  Same thing happened many years ago to Brandon Lee (Bruce Lee's son) on a movie set.  Killed by a blank round.

48 minutes ago, W2DR said:

I don't know who's responsible for loading the firearm but Noel's right. It's absolutely the first duty of anyone handing a firearm under any circumstance to verify the state of the weapon. The ultimate fault here lies with Baldwin. 

That is a rather harsh judgment in my opinion. Last time I checked, Alec Baldwin was an actor, not a firearms expert. The question is.....did a firearms expert check the weapon first?

The question really is what actually took place and as that is not yet clear, speculation is of little value.
The assumption that Mr Baldwin pointed a gun and fired it is I think premature.
It looks like it is being treated as an appalling accident but how and why are yet to be determined.
RIP Halyna Hutchins and may Joel Souza have a full recovery from his injuries.

 

No, I agree with Noel. The first thing you are ever taught; is there is no such thing as an unloaded weapon. If it is considered to be loaded at all times, it is much safer. It is the responsibility of who ever is holding the weapon. Never take anyone's word for it. I don't care who it is.

 Sue

I agree with Noel too Sue but we don't actually know if anyone pointed a gun, however likely that might be.
I am only going by this statement:

Quote

"The details are unclear at this moment, but we are working to learn more, and we support a full investigation into this tragic event," 

 

Edited October 22, 20214 yr by Reader

In the rare case where a murder weapon was a firearm, everyone was real careful, but you still occasionally read of lawyers or other persons in courtrooms being shot by Exhibit A. Even less of an excuse for that. But I think that's very different from a movie set where guns are intended to go bang and it's somebody's job to make sure no one comes to harm. These are supposed to be pros. I'm going to give Baldwin the benefit of the doubt until we know what happened. (I'm sure guns are more common in urban crime--in Southern Illinois we get a car battery, knifes, bailing twine--whatever's handy--but, oddly, given how well-armed people are here, seldom guns. Sorry. Hadn't really thought of that before and now it strikes me as weird.)

How awful he must feel. Strange that director of photography was killed and the director injured. I wonder if was during Baldwin getting some direction in a scene?

During filming of Aguirre, Wrath of God, by Werner Herzog, Klaus Kinski deliberately fired into a group of extras, striking one. Herzog threatened to shoot Kinski. Kinski was unstable and Herzog (in my opinion) saw that more as an opportunity than a danger to his cast and crew, and there's a case where it's clearly an unhealthy production.

3 hours ago, charliearon said:

Blanks supposedly have a wax plug holding the gunpowder in place and that may have been the projectile.

Not always (usually?) true. There are two kinds of blanks. One has a plastic plug and the other has a paper wad with a crimped casing. If, in fact, a blank caused the death I'll be interesting to see which type it was (highly likely it was was sealed with a plastic plug as opposed to the safer paper wad type).  And that raises another question...if the blank was sealed with a plastic plug, why was that type being used on a closed movie set? And was there only one discharge of the firearm? If so how did the other party get injured? Given the Screen Actors Guild interest here, I wonder how long it will be before the Sheriff's Department comments on "an ongoing investigation"

For the purposes of inspecting a firearm does a blank look substantially different from the real thing ?

I think we can all agree that this was a tragic accident.

However, some people royally screwed up here.  There are supposed to be strict procedures pertaining to firearms on a movie set and clearly they either weren't followed or someone simply made a horrible mistake.

Even though this was an accident, someone has to be held accountable, and I suspect that the producer will end up being sued and some staff will lose their jobs.

Dave

8 minutes ago, SpaceMonkey said:

For the purposes of inspecting a firearm does a blank look substantially different from the real thing ?

Yes, it's very easy to tell a blank from an real cartridge.  The real cartridge has a bullet crimped to the shell casing.  But a person unfamiliar with guns and ammunition might not know the difference.

In any case Alec Baldwin is a victim too.  Being responsible for a person's death weighs on you for a long time.  He will be going over the incident in his mind for years to come.  It will weigh heavily on his mind.  It's nothing you can undo.  You can say you're sorry but that has little meaning.  

Noel

4 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

That is a rather harsh judgment in my opinion. Last time I checked, Alec Baldwin was an actor, not a firearms expert. The question is.....did a firearms expert check the weapon first?

Anyone who is going to handle a firearm must first be briefed on how to handle that weapon be it a rifle, pistol or shotgun.  The first thing he must be told is to never point the weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot.  The second thing is to verify a gun is either unloaded or properly loaded with the proper type of ammunition.

The ultimate responsibility lies with the shooter.  The person who pointed the gun and pulled the trigger.

I taught my children how to use firearms at an early age.  I took them out to the field and taught them how to load a gun and then Iet them fire it so they would know how the weapon handled and be aware of the recoil.

I would think any actor who is going to use a firearm in a movie or on a stage be shown how the weapon is used and all the safety precautions that apply.

Noel

5 hours ago, charliearon said:

Was reading the story this morning.  The gun WAS loaded with blanks.  The rule is that no one should be within 20 feet when it is fired.  Blanks supposedly have a wax plug holding the gunpowder in place and that may have been the projectile.  Same thing happened many years ago to Brandon Lee (Bruce Lee's son) on a movie set.  Killed by a blank round.

Yeah, we don't learn and are doomed to make the same mistakes over and over again.  I'm confident we're doomed as a species.