Movie About an Accidental Killing Has an Accidental Killing

Excellent article and a worthwhile read. This point is particularly interesting:

Also from the article (emphasis mine):

That's an interesting point, and one that prosecutors may pursue.

Fuck all you stupid assholes who said that actors have no liability or responsibility for handling firearms on set.

I'm looking at you, @Demiurge and @14thDoctor.

I'll repeat what I said earlier, for the learning impaired:

Anyone hands you a real firearm, even a so-called professional, you still have an obligation (legal or otherwise) to check it yourself. Period. Full stop. No debate.

Oh look, a Professional Armorer says that Actors are at fault if the Professional Armorer hands them a loaded gun and tells them it's safe.

You want me to quote some actors who say that it's the armorer's fault for having live rounds on set in the first place? There's a dozen of those stories.

Again, this armorer said she was scared of loading a gun with blanks. She knew that there were live rounds in the ammunition she got from her supplier, as it was a topic of discussion on the two previous live fires that occurred on the set, and the director told her it was her job to make sure it didn't happen again.

I look forward to Baldwin being exonerated and your bellows of impotent rage.

Followed shortly after by this bitch going to jail. Because it is absolutely her repsonsibility, she knew it wasn't safe, she said she wasn't sure she should be doing this job, she said in particular this was an area she wasn't comfortable with.

But sure, the actor should have known the difference between a blank and a live round. From all his years of acting.

You are hilarious.

There's a whole lot of "should" and "what's stopping him" in that interview, but I don't see any actual formal legal requirements there that would justify charges being pressed. "You should be able to trust paid professionals to do their jobs competently" is a hill I'm happy to die on.

Too soon?

from an IATSE site:


Prop Weapons-Armorer
A licensed Armourer has to be on set when weapons and firearms are used, to meet legal requirements. Armourers analyse the script, working with the Producer, Director and Properties Master, to put together a list of weapons needed. They may have to research the style of weaponry according to the period and type of film. Armourers may also consult with the Production Designer and the Prop Maker on the design of any tailor-made weapons.

Armourers liaise with the Director of Photography to determine which camera angles will minimise any risk of injury. During rehearsals Armourers coach the Actors in the correct use of the firearms, explaining possible dangers. They also help to choreograph any gunfire action sequences. They continually check weapons during breaks and rehearsals, making sure safety controls are still intact.


seems to me the armorer is the ultimate safety control with on set firearms and that what's in them is their responsiblity.

From what I read months ago, the most plausible explanation for what happened is that some crew members borrowed the guns and loaded them with real ammunition to go shoot cans or something, then left a live round in at least one gun when returning them in time for Baldwin to use one to rehearse.

I know fuck all about guns, but it's insane to me that the armourer allowed weapons to be stored in such an insecure manner. All she had to do to avoid a tragedy was keep those guns unloaded and under lock and key at all times, then personally load them with blanks before they need to be fired. If there's a scene where an actor needs to hold a gun but not fire it, it doesn't even need to be handed to them loaded at all.

The bolded bit is incredibly irresponsible and unprofessional on the part of the armorer and her ass should be grass.

yeah, that they let them out of holding in the first place is beyond the pale. Probably something to be said about US gun culture here, too. A buddy works on a couple of productions in northern Ontario (North Bay region, about 5 hours north of me) and there's just no way anyone would be allowed to "borrow" a gun from the set because, y'know, felony.

New Mexico prosecutors downgrade charges against Alec Baldwin in the 'Rust' shooting

The guy who was the safety coordinator and assistant director has pleaded guilty and gets six months probation.

https://www.courthousenews.com/baldwin-codefendant-gets-6-months-probation-on-gun-charge/

Worth a repost. This armorer should bear majority of responsibility. She was very unprofessional allowing those weapons and ammo to be easily accessible. Her not knowing the difference between a dummy round and a real one proves she had no business being hired.

I wouldn’t want that responsibility, but you can bet I’d be a real prick if I was doing that job. Everyone would hate me but you gotta be alive for that to matter

All charges dropped.

https://twitter.com/bbcbreaking/status/1649139377333760015

What a surprise. The fact he was charged at all was clearly a political ploy by someone who was breaking state law by being both a representative and a AG. Once she recused herself it was inevitable.

If you think Alec Baldwin has personal culpability for his actions, I wouldn't argue and that is definitely a valid take. Though you could be rational and come down at different levels there.

But to say he had legal responsibility when the person they hired to ensure the safety of the actors on set was clearly in breach of their professional duties and the gun he was handed by someone he trusted and was told was a safe gun had a live round in it wasn't something that was ever going to get by a jury.

It was the right call. I'm just hoping the same doesn't happen for the armorer. It was that armorer's negligence in duty that led to this tragedy.

Yep, seemed pretty obvious this is how it was going to go. The armorer is screwed. But then she should be. She is obviously directly culpable for an innocent woman dying.

But I guess it wasn't obvious to dumbass @We Are Borg.

Oh well, if it weren't for morons calling people out when they have their heads squarely up their ass what would this place be for?

I would say it would add an extra layer of safety if actors using prop guns were to be in the know about blanks and double check things themselves. Hollywood also has the money to make prop replicas a lot safer by changing calliber so real bullets cannot physically be loaded into a prop gun.

Baldwin’s making a documentary about the shooting.

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/rust-alec-baldwin-resumes-filming-montana-documentary-1235591146/

This is getting meta.

All of this. There's no reason why the actors can't be trained on how to verify a weapon's safety on their own.

Sources say Danny DeVito will be playing Baldwin in the documentary

https://twitter.com/reuters/status/1659389874301022210?s=46&t=iYW3foyqIA6Tn8VWwn3nwQ

Almost two years after the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust, and the legal drama surrounding the situation hasn’t gotten any less thorny. Charges against Alec Baldwin, who wielded the gun, were dropped. First assistant director David Halls, who handed him the gun, took a plea deal for a misdemeanor charge. But the case against armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed persists, and a new charge for evidence tampering has been added on top of two existing charges for involuntary manslaughter, per CNN.

This comes after prosecutors suggested Gutierrez-Reed was “likely” hungover when handling the weapon due to the consumption of alcohol and smoking marijuana. Now, prosecutors claim that on or around the day of the shooting, Gutierrez-Reed “did transfer narcotics to another person with the intent to prevent the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of herself, and the highest crime was a fourth degree felony” (per Entertainment Tonight).

https://www.avclub.com/rust-armorer-charged-with-evidence-tampering-1850570714

Alec Baldwin To Be Recharged For 'Rust' Manslaughter: Report
Initial charges against the actor were dropped in April, about a year and a half after the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/20...ed-shooting-rust-movie?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

… So,a guy who picked up a movie prop and did what the script said to do - you know, like actors do. But, a FUCKING 17 YEAR OLD KILLS TWO PEOPLE AND MAIMS ANOTHER, is innocent.

Beam me up, Scotty. There’s no intelligent life here.

Yeah, it's almost as if self-defense and negligent homicide are separate categories.

The charge of negligent homicide would/should be on the person in charge of props, not an actor expecting the prop s/he picked up to act like a prop.

And putting yourself into a situation in which you could be harmed, negates any later claims of self-defense. YOU put yourself in danger. And Rittenhouse’s mother put a 17 year old child in danger. SHE should be in prison.

I disagree. Handling firearms implies a whole other level of safety obligations. I don't know that I could fire a prop gun at someone even if I loaded the dummy rounds myself. There is just no room for fucking around on this subject.

And if she didn't want to be raped, she shouldn't be dressed like a whore.

Most people do not know that much about guns. Hell, even cops have killed innocent children because they had a toy gun that looked real. I’ve acted. In high school, I took several acting classes. Props are props. No actor would expect a prop stove to actually light - unless the script calls for the actor to actually cook. A live actual firearm definitely should not be used as a prop. And no actor would expect it to actually fire. Just because you would, doesn’t everyone would.

Women do not dress to be raped. You run into a burning building, you expect to burned. You put yourself in a gunfight, you expect gunfire.