Ok but you have an expert saying “this gun will fire blanks when you pull the trigger, I loaded them, nobody else can touch the gun except me and you under my supervision. When the camera starts rolling in a bit you’re going to point it at that person and fire the blanks in accordance with the script. After the scene ends you hand the gun back to me because nobody else is allowed to touch it”
That’s how movies involving firearms work. If he was following industry and legal standards then he shouldn’t be held responsible as the actor. Maybe the standards need to be changed. Maybe he needs to be held accountable as the producer who hired the armorer. But there needs to be a mens rea for it to be a crime and it needs to be a criminal negligence that we would hold others accountable for if they engage in it without tragedy.
Ok but you have an expert saying “this gun will fire blanks when you pull the trigger, I loaded them, nobody else can touch the gun except me and you under my supervision. When the camera starts rolling in a bit you’re going to point it at that person and fire the blanks in accordance with the script. After the scene ends you hand the gun back to me because nobody else is allowed to touch it”
And not only that, but also producer (David Halls), whose job was to double check the armorer’s preparation of the gun, confirms it is safe. I think people claiming this was in any way Baldwin’s fault are taking a piss
I think they’re people who understand basic firearm safety but don’t understand extenuating circumstances or the fact that movies tend to use real firearms shooting specialized ammunition.
And the fact is that if you hang out in weird places you’ll meet people who think they know what they’re doing with a gun and really need to be following the first rule of firearm safety (don’t point it at shit you don’t want to destroy). People like the sort who bring unloaded guns into the bedroom or who point them at friends as a joke. You know, morons (and I say this as someone who does do dangerous shit for fun). But there’s a difference between touching an electric wire because you shut off the circuit yourself and touching one because a master electrician assured you it’s safe.
George Clooney has said that on the sets he’s been on, both the prop master and the actor check the gun. If a scene requires someone to shoot towards the camera, a transparent barrier is placed in front of the camera, even when it’s blanks being used. You don’t rehearse a scene with a gun that’s capable of firing, you use a dummy gun for that. A real firearm isn’t handed to an actor until just before the camera starts rolling, not while they’re just setting things up.
These are sensible precautions to take, they just weren’t happening on Alec Baldwin’s set. The reasons for these precautions is that the “master armorer” can screw up. People complained about lax gun safety before the incident, the complaints were ignored.
Exactly. Safety comes in layers and therefore assistant producer David Halls was supposed to double check the gun after the armorer prepared it. He failed at it, the armorer failed at their job and it’s theirs and only theirs fault.
It has to be someone’s job to make sure guns on set are safe
Of course the armorer’s job, but safety comes in layers. It’s in a way everyone’s job to apply basic precautions, especially when you’re handling one.
Treat all guns as loaded to minimize the potential for harm.
Ok but you have an expert saying “this gun will fire blanks when you pull the trigger, I loaded them, nobody else can touch the gun except me and you under my supervision. When the camera starts rolling in a bit you’re going to point it at that person and fire the blanks in accordance with the script. After the scene ends you hand the gun back to me because nobody else is allowed to touch it”
That’s how movies involving firearms work. If he was following industry and legal standards then he shouldn’t be held responsible as the actor. Maybe the standards need to be changed. Maybe he needs to be held accountable as the producer who hired the armorer. But there needs to be a mens rea for it to be a crime and it needs to be a criminal negligence that we would hold others accountable for if they engage in it without tragedy.
And not only that, but also producer (David Halls), whose job was to double check the armorer’s preparation of the gun, confirms it is safe. I think people claiming this was in any way Baldwin’s fault are taking a piss
I think they’re people who understand basic firearm safety but don’t understand extenuating circumstances or the fact that movies tend to use real firearms shooting specialized ammunition.
And the fact is that if you hang out in weird places you’ll meet people who think they know what they’re doing with a gun and really need to be following the first rule of firearm safety (don’t point it at shit you don’t want to destroy). People like the sort who bring unloaded guns into the bedroom or who point them at friends as a joke. You know, morons (and I say this as someone who does do dangerous shit for fun). But there’s a difference between touching an electric wire because you shut off the circuit yourself and touching one because a master electrician assured you it’s safe.
George Clooney has said that on the sets he’s been on, both the prop master and the actor check the gun. If a scene requires someone to shoot towards the camera, a transparent barrier is placed in front of the camera, even when it’s blanks being used. You don’t rehearse a scene with a gun that’s capable of firing, you use a dummy gun for that. A real firearm isn’t handed to an actor until just before the camera starts rolling, not while they’re just setting things up.
These are sensible precautions to take, they just weren’t happening on Alec Baldwin’s set. The reasons for these precautions is that the “master armorer” can screw up. People complained about lax gun safety before the incident, the complaints were ignored.
The scene they were filming involved him pointing the gun at the camera. The person who got shot was standing behind the camera.
Alec Baldwin claims he did not pull the trigger, and this was corroborated by the assistant director on set.
Exactly. Safety comes in layers and therefore assistant producer David Halls was supposed to double check the gun after the armorer prepared it. He failed at it, the armorer failed at their job and it’s theirs and only theirs fault.
And someone’s job is to control that this person does their job properly. Which is the someone’s boss who delegated the task.
In other words, an executive who assigns a task to someone is responsible to ensure it is done properly.
Yep, AD David Halls’.