Blade_Runner wrote:
So you don't care that the movie industry has established strict protocols for weapons handling on movie sets and that 99.9% of the ammunition loaded into prop guns are blanks. You're just gonna blame the actor cuz, according to you, his actions that day don't measure up to your gun safety program.
An accident does not just happen, accidents are caused, most often by a series of mistakes adding up over time.
In the incident in question, an inexperienced armorer who should have followed her gut instinct when she was offered the job and an assistant director with a history of reckless behavior creating unsafe conditions were supposed to insure the pistol was positively safe before it was given to the actor. Obviously, they did not do their job.
In war movies like Saving Private Ryan or Tears of the Sun or Flags of our Fathers. there are literally hundreds of weapons in use, including machine guns, flame throwers, rocket launchers, mortars, and artillery pieces. Every scene, every take, is carefully choreographed and every weapon is prepared for just that scene.
The actors in most cases actually go through a "boot camp" or training course to prepare them for their roles. And the big movie production companies with hefty budgets spare no expense in getting the best armorers, weapons handlers, and instructors in the business.
Rust productions had a budget of $7 million, they could not afford a world class weapons crew.
So you don't care that the movie industry has esta... (
show quote)
I absolutely do not care that the movie industry has their own protocols for weapons handling on movie sets. Neither the movie industry, nor anyone in the industry regardless of what their "job" is, are responsible for what happens when an actor holds a gun in their OWN hands. I don't care that 99.9 percent of ammunition loaded into prop guns on movie sets are blanks (or supposed to be)...obviously those two things did not prevent a woman from dying and a man from being seriously hurt. I don't care how many other movies were filmed with however many fake guns in them...With a gun that is capable of firing live ammunition, all it can take is just ONE time for it to discharge a bullet and someone can be
killed! If that isn't a reason to make 100% sure that the gun
you are holding is not loaded with a live round of ammunition, then again, you should NOT be holding a gun. I don't blame Baldwin for
intentionally killing Ms. Hutchins. What I DO blame him for is not checking the gun he was in possession of for live ammunition. If he doesn't know how to do that, he has no business handling a gun. Period. A "series of mistakes adding up over time" might be a problem with makeup or costumes, but there should be no such "series of mistakes" when there is a dangerous weapon involved!! That is
why safety rules exist - for
everyone who takes a gun into their possession...every single time they do!
No, I don't have a "gun safety program" that Baldwin was supposed to follow. And there's no need to get snarky. But I have followed the rules of handeling a very dangerous weapon meticulously since I was first taught to use one when I was in my 20's. Baldwin sits on the board of a gun-control organization whose existence is premised on the fact that guns are dangerous when in the hands of a human being. So he can certainly be presumed to possess at least
some knowledge about their lethality. He should be aware, as just about everyone is, that guns are inherently dangerous and can readily cause death or serious bodily injury to people if used carelessly. That is WHY rule #1 is to assume ALL guns are loaded with live ammunition. Baldwin obviously was being careless in several ways while handling that gun.
Three rules that should be at the least be considered when charging him for involuntary manslaughter are that:
(1) He presumed that the gun had the correct fake ammunition without
personally verifying it.
(2) He pointed the muzzle of the gun at someone, but did not first ensure the gun did not contain live ammo.
(3) He did not check his target...Hutchins and Souza were not his target, yet he killed and maimed them.
(3) He pulled the trigger of the gun.