I am surprised this is not being discussed here.
Alec Baldwin gun incident
- Thread starter measureman
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Too loaded a topic.
Why?
It would be a discussion on basic gun safety.
He made a fatal error in not checking the gun thoroughly before going on set. When someone hands me a firearm, even when I just watched them unload and clear it, I check it anyway. If he wasn't such an anti-gun snob and actually respected them, he'd know that. When he took possession of it, the first thing he should've done was check to ensure it only contains blank rounds and no live rounds. Then, treat it as if it did have live rounds anyway. He can blame the prop guy all he wants, but he's equally responsible for not doing his due diligence with a live firearm.
This is why I'm a huge advocate of gun safety education classes regardless of someone's stance on them. A lot of gun-related accidents could be prevented with just a little education.
This is why I'm a huge advocate of gun safety education classes regardless of someone's stance on them. A lot of gun-related accidents could be prevented with just a little education.
What I learned in training, and what I teach to students: When someone hands you a gun, one of the first things you do is verify if it is loaded/chambered. If you don't know how to do that, don't accept it; don't let them give it to you. It doesn't matter who the person handing it to you is, or what they say to you. "Trust but verify". This applies even if that person is a supposed professional armorer. From this perspective, both the armorer and the actor share some of the guilt.
However, I have not worked making films or trained people who do that. It's a different environment, which may have its own rules. From what I've read, to a large extent the incident sounds like the professional armorer is at fault for giving someone a loaded gun, saying it is "cold" or unloaded.
However, I have not worked making films or trained people who do that. It's a different environment, which may have its own rules. From what I've read, to a large extent the incident sounds like the professional armorer is at fault for giving someone a loaded gun, saying it is "cold" or unloaded.
They ought to have these on movie sets. In Saudi we had them in front of any structure an armed marine was going to enter.
Why did they have a real gun on set? Why not use a cap gun or other toy gun? 
Shel_B
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What is that?They ought to have these on movie sets. In Saudi we had them in front of any structure an armed marine was going to enter.
I listen to KFI Los Angeles on iHeart radio at work. They reportedly said that gun was previously used on the set with live rounds for having fun plinking and target practice.
Discharge chamber. You unload the weapon, stick the barrel in the barrel, and pull the trigger to clear it. I've seen a couple guys drop the magazine, forget to eject the round in the chamber, and fire off a live round into the barrel.
It’s a terrible tragedy and someone was negligent for not checking the gun.
Shel_B
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Thanks! I learn something new every day.
The fact that the gun was allowed to be used with live ammunition, then brought back on set is an egregious error, but even worse is being picked up without clearing it immediately is unforgivable.
The first rule of gun safety, EVERY gun is always loaded. If you touch it, you check it period.
When I take a firearm out of my own safe, I treat is as though I don't know anything about the status of the chamber. When someone hands me a firearm after they clear it, I clear it just as though I didn't see them clear it. EVERY TIME.
It should be ONE PERSON with ultimate responsibility and IMO it should be the "weapons master" as is the industry standard so it's consistent from set to set.
If the weapons master "knows" the actor will double-check his work, he doesn't have that ultimate responsibility... because the next actor may not know guns like this one. Weapons Master should assume he's giving the gun to a monkey.
...and any person receiving a gun should assume he/she just got it from a monkey just the same.
That's not how making movies works, but go right ahead blaming Baldwin for this.
Never, never monkey around with a loaded weapon!
So because they're on a movie set, basic firearm safety gets tossed out the window?
Seems crazy that they would allow any live ammo on sets? I'm sure the better armorers insist on this.
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