No excuse is right.

https://wgntv.com/news/watch-investigators-discuss-fatal-rust-movie-set-shooting/
‘Rust’ movie-set shooting: Authorities present findings

Taken from the story:

“The negligence from the person who was supposed to check the weapon on the site did not do this; the person who had to announce that the loaded gun was on the site did not do this; the person who should have checked this weapon before bringing it to the set did not do it,” Svetnoy said in part. “And the DEATH OF THE HUMAN IS THE RESULT!”

Protocols are in place for a reason and when protocols are ignored and not followed really bad things happen. In this case it took a series of bad things to culminate in someone getting killed. This is why I used the term "perfect storm" to describe things. With the onset of winter my shooting will move from my outdoor range to my indoor range. My last venture there reflected a change in ownership and finally a range officer present anytime the range was in use. It wasn't unusual to walk up into a shooting position stall and look right and left and see bullet holes in the Plexiglass extensions of the partitions and even look up and see bullet holes in the overhead. Protocols were in place but ignored so now it's nice to see a range officer to make sure rules, safety practices and protocols are followed. Guns alone are not at all inherently dangerous, people who do not follow safety practices are dangerous.

When someone hands me a gun I cycle the action always keeping the gun pointed in a safe direction. I do this even if I just watched them cycle the action or check the chambers before it was handed to me. It's just a good practice. Then too, I am a regular shooter and gun enthusiast. Alec Baldwin is an actor and other than pulling the trigger on a single action .45 Colt revolver he is likely clueless as to how to even load it let alone notice a bullet in a cylinder. When handed the gun he was told "Cold Gun" and had no reason to actually inspect the gun. He assumed, very wrongly, the gun was ready for use as a prop. All contributing to the perfect storm.

Ron

 

Even being told it was a "cold gun" he should have had enough gun training to know to and be able to check his weapon and should have done so. Which is why they need education instead of screaming for guns to be removed from movies except for "play toy" ones. There is a lot of blame to be shared on this one. And from what I heard from the DA and the Sheriff's Dept. they are going to be prosecuting more than one on this.

 

This 'Cold gun' 'live gun' scenario should never exist on a movie set..
There is plenty of examples of movies that have been made with very realistic gun scenes where the weapons are incapable of shooting a real trajectory..
IMO there is absolutely no excuse.

 

This 'Cold gun' 'live gun' scenario should never exist on a movie set..
There is plenty of examples of movies that have been made with very realistic gun scenes where the weapons are incapable of shooting a real trajectory..
IMO there is absolutely no excuse.

https://meaww.com/hannah-gutierrez-armorer-rust-dad-thell-reed-famous-stuntman

In our digging into Gutierrez, we discovered that she is in fact the daughter of notable American stuntman, armorer, and film consultant Thell Reed.
...
With such a long and distinguished career, Reed has become Hollywood's go-to for weapons. So naturally, his daughter spent a lot of time in and around guns and on film sets. But despite that, she appeared to be in two minds about taking up the job of an armorer. "I almost didn’t take the job because I wasn’t sure if I was ready, " she admitted on a podcast in September, after completing her first job - the Nicholas Cage starring 'The Old Way'. 'Rust' was only her second solo film as an armorer, and she's still learning as she admitted. "Dad has taught me everything but a lot of things I just kind of caught on by myself through observation, watching him do things or just knowing how the firearms work," she added.

It sounds like the Armorer was inexperienced, young, cheap and working on a low budget movie with real guns and real bullets. As @Reloadron said, A Perfect Storm for serious trouble.

 

Update today:

The armorer on the set of Rust told authorities no live ammunition was kept on the set of the Western, but the Santa Fe County Sheriff said the statement was "not accurate."

On Thursday morning, Sheriff Adan Mendoza appeared on Today where he was asked if armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's statement of "no live ammo is ever kept on set," according to a search warrant, was correct.

"No, obviously it isn't," Mendoza said. "That was a live round that struck and killed Ms. Hutchins so that's not an accurate statement as far as I'm concerned."

Last Thursday, authorities confirmed the film's star, Alec Baldwin, fatally struck cinematographer Halyna Hutchins with a real lead bullet on the New Mexico set of the film while rehearsing for scene with a gun.
The bullet also hit director Joel Souza and was recovered from his shoulder.

Mendoza told Today, "The focus of the investigation is how the live rounds got there, who brought them there and why they were there.
As far as if it's going to rise to the point of negligence or the point of criminal charges, we're hoping to work with the district attorney in reference to that."

 

https://www.kptv.com/2023/01/19/prosecutors-announce-decision-shooting-by-alec-baldwin/
Alec Baldwin to be charged with manslaughter in set shooting

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Actor Alec Baldwin and a weapons specialist will be charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer who was killed on a New Mexico movie set, prosecutors announced Thursday, citing a “criminal disregard for safety.”

Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies issued a statement announcing the charges against Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who supervised weapons on the set of the Western “Rust.”

Halyna Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during rehearsals at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza.

Assistant director David Halls, who handed Baldwin the gun, has signed an agreement to plead guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon, the district attorney’s office said.

Alec Baldwin failed to follow firearm safety protocol. Trust but verify.

 

The first thing you do when someone hands you a revolver is open the cylinder to see if it's loaded. If it is "supposed" to be loaded with blanks, you pull the cartridge and check that it doesn't have a bullet! But to give someone not trained in firearm handling a weapon is asking for disaster. Lots of blame to spread around... ALL weapons are LOADED unless inspected by the user to VERIFY they are UNLOADED! The ultimate fault lies with who pulled the trigger and his assertion that the gun went off on its own is utter BS.

 

https://www.kptv.com/2023/01/19/prosecutors-announce-decision-shooting-by-alec-baldwin/
Alec Baldwin to be charged with manslaughter in set shooting


Alec Baldwin failed to follow firearm safety protocol. Trust but verify.

Wow, I didn't think this would actually happen. I figured the safety girl was screwed but Baldwin would probably never see a court room for it. Guess not. What's everyone's predictions about whether or not he'll be convicted?

 

Zero chance of a conviction. Just a prediction, I'm not going to argue about it.
Interesting fact: 500 people per year are killed with a gun "accidentally" in the United States. I'm guessing half of the victims' families are asking why the killer of their loved one didn't get the same treatment as Alec Baldwin.

 

Wow, I didn't think this would actually happen. I figured the safety girl was screwed but Baldwin would probably never see a court room for it. Guess not. What's everyone's predictions about whether or not he'll be convicted?

If he was just an actor on the set, low but he was the producer too. That brings a higher level of responsibility. So time is likely IMO because two people were shot and one died at least partly directly from his lack of set safety.

 

If he was just an actor on the set, low but he was the producer too. That brings a higher level of responsibility. So time is likely IMO because two people were shot and one died at least partly directly from his lack of set safety.

It depends on the level of producer. A producer can be many things and he is likely considered a producer because his agent negotiated a fraction of royalties in addition to salary. He didn't necessarily have any more decision-making authority than I have about my local discount store as an investor in Walmart.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainme...21-10-26/rust-alec-baldwin-producer-explained

Read this, it will show you what kind of a sh*t show a movie set can be and what, exactly a producer (or vagueness of what then title "producer") really does. As said above, there is so much uncertainty of who-was-doing-what that there will be no finger pointed in a clear direction and there is huge opportunity to blame someone else.

 

Zero chance of a conviction. Just a prediction, I'm not going to argue about it.
Interesting fact: 500 people per year are killed with a gun "accidentally" in the United States. I'm guessing half of the victims' families are asking why the killer of their loved one didn't get the same treatment as Alec Baldwin.

Happens all the time and not just with shootings. A few years back we had a 16 year old girl run down and kill a pedestrian due to pure neglect. Charged with vehicular manslaughter. The kid walked with probation. Well to do family, read into that money. The best defense attorney money can buy. Took a life and got probation. She did cry and apologize in court. I also do not buy into "accidently" when someone is dead as a result of a gun I generally see neglect. My view? Alec Baldwin will likely walk. The real bitch here is it took negligence on not one but several people for this to happen, it was like the perfect storm, Baldwin and others should all be held accountable.

Just My Take
Ron

 

Happens all the time and not just with shootings. A few years back we had a 16 year old girl run down and kill a pedestrian due to pure neglect. Charged with vehicular manslaughter. The kid walked with probation. Well to do family, read into that money. The best defense attorney money can buy. Took a life and got probation. She did cry and apologize in court. I also do not buy into "accidently" when someone is dead as a result of a gun I generally see neglect. My view? Alec Baldwin will likely walk. The real bitch here is it took negligence on not one but several people for this to happen, it was like the perfect storm, Baldwin and others should all be held accountable.

Just My Take
Ron

How many kids are not in jail because they are "from good family" and "didn't mean for things to end this way". At the same time, how many inner city kids did less, got 5 to 10 years and never got to go to college or hold a job with a company that does background checks or pays more than minimum wage (if that).

 

How many kids are not in jail because they are "from good family" and "didn't mean for things to end this way". At the same time, how many inner city kids did less, got 5 to 10 years and never got to go to college or hold a job with a company that does background checks or pays more than minimum wage (if that).

But of course justice is blind. The statue even makes clear. Lady Justice, scales, blindfold? We know the drill. While all of that looks good the fact is money rules, it certainly can rule in the judicial system. Anyway, I agree Baldwin will walk or get a minor slap. I think it was the armorer who already entered a guilty plea but no clue exactly what the charges were. I haven't been following all of it.

Ron

 

He’s an actor. Should have jury in his hands.

I see no reason to have a working gun used in a movie. Isn’t it pretty easy to just remove the firing pin? Why can’t they disable gun for use as a prop?

 

He’s an actor. Should have jury in his hands.

I see no reason to have a working gun used in a movie. Isn’t it pretty easy to just remove the firing pin? Why can’t they disable gun for use as a prop?

My best guess is because with any gun disabled such as removing the firing pin it can't fire the blanks this gun was supposed to shoot during the filming. Problem is there was live ammunition on the set and apparently several staff had taken the gun out and played target practice. Anyway my best guess is because the gun needs to be functional to fire blanks. I believe the gun in this case was a .45 Colt single action revolver, typical of the west and the era for the movie. Keep in mind I haven't followed all of this in detail. A single action revolver also needs cocked to shoot. The hammer needs to be pulled back manually, you don't just yank (pull) the trigger. Below are some .45 colt blanks.



Even blanks are dangerous. Just a crimped cartridge less a bullet. Those cartridges have a powder charge and sometimes cornstarch or another agent added to make more smoke inline with the black powder cowboy loads of years ago. When a blank fires don't be in front of it because still burning powder is the ejecta. Very capable of doing bodily injury. Everything about all of this was wrong in so many ways. Baldwin was playing around with a gun which I am sure didn't cock itself and pull it's own trigger. A gun which should have been proof checked by the armorer on the set. No live ammunition should have been anywhere on the set or even close to it.

Ron

 

He’s an actor. Should have jury in his hands.

I see no reason to have a working gun used in a movie. Isn’t it pretty easy to just remove the firing pin? Why can’t they disable gun for use as a prop?

Depends on what the gun is going to be used for. Guns get used for all kinds of purposes in a movie and some of those require a gun that is fully functional. A good armorer will have a plan that clearly identifies which shots for which scenes need what level of capability and only provide the minimum necessary to accomplish that shot, as well as train and supervise everyone involved in the shot on the risks and the safety protocols to be followed. They should also take proactive measures to make it very difficult to have a weapon with more capability than is needed, particularly guns that are either fully functional or capable of firing blanks (at close range, blanks can be just as fatal as real bullets). These should be clearly marked (in a way that the camera won't see) and should always be stored in a separate locked area. Same with both blank and live ammo. Ideally, functional weapons and ammo would only be brought on set when they are needed and would be physically removed from the set location entirely as soon as the need is over.

But doing things properly involves greater planning and costs quite a bit more. Much easier and cheaper if you just use the most functional gun needed for anything for everything. Much simpler if everything is kept in the same place. Much quicker if things are only checked out at the beginning of the day and back in at the end.

As is often the case, for something like this to happen required lapses by multiple people. Any time someone is handed a weapon, it is their responsibility to verify whether or not it is loaded. If someone gets a gun out of a safe and hands it to me so that I can hand it to someone else to look at and then they hand it back to me to give back to the other person to put it away, that gun gets checked five times.

 

Depends on what the gun is going to be used for. Guns get used for all kinds of purposes in a movie and some of those require a gun that is fully functional. A good armorer will have a plan that clearly identifies which shots for which scenes need what level of capability and only provide the minimum necessary to accomplish that shot, as well as train and supervise everyone involved in the shot on the risks and the safety protocols to be followed. They should also take proactive measures to make it very difficult to have a weapon with more capability than is needed, particularly guns that are either fully functional or capable of firing blanks (at close range, blanks can be just as fatal as real bullets). These should be clearly marked (in a way that the camera won't see) and should always be stored in a separate locked area. Same with both blank and live ammo. Ideally, functional weapons and ammo would only be brought on set when they are needed and would be physically removed from the set location entirely as soon as the need is over.

But doing things properly involves greater planning and costs quite a bit more. Much easier and cheaper if you just use the most functional gun needed for anything for everything. Much simpler if everything is kept in the same place. Much quicker if things are only checked out at the beginning of the day and back in at the end.

As is often the case, for something like this to happen required lapses by multiple people. Any time someone is handed a weapon, it is their responsibility to verify whether or not it is loaded. If someone gets a gun out of a safe and hands it to me so that I can hand it to someone else to look at and then they hand it back to me to give back to the other person to put it away, that gun gets checked five times.

Exactly and right on target. This instance is one where not one, not two but an entire avalanche of rules were broken leading to a tragic end. The perfect storm.

Ron

 

The pistol in question is an Italian made fully functioning replica of a Colt Single Action Army .45 cal. revolver like this. Quite popular with the "Cowboy" shooting competition crowd.

The FBI laboratories inspected the revolver and found it in perfect working condition and unable to "Accidentally Fire" on its own without the trigger being pulled. Not only does the trigger need to be pulled, but the hammer must be pulled back to "Cock" the revolver before it can be fired by pulling the trigger. They DON'T just go off on their own. So his protestations otherwise are pure BS.

I doubt it will make it to trial and expect there will be a plea bargain arrangement to a lesser charge without incarceration unless it is home confinement. Along with substantial fines, court costs, huge legal expenses, and public service requirements. But then again, time will tell.

 

The pistol in question is an Italian made fully functioning replica of a Colt Single Action Army .45 cal. revolver like this. Quite popular with the "Cowboy" shooting competition crowd.
View attachment 285695
The FBI laboratories inspected the revolver and found it in perfect working condition and unable to "Accidentally Fire" on its own without the trigger being pulled. Not only does the trigger need to be pulled, but the hammer must be pulled back to "Cock" the revolver before it can be fired by pulling the trigger. They DON'T just go off on their own. So his protestations otherwise are pure BS.

I doubt it will make it to trial and expect there will be a plea bargain arrangement to a lesser charge without incarceration unless it is home confinement. Along with substantial fines, court costs, huge legal expenses, and public service requirements. But then again, time will tell.

Try pulling the hammer back with your thumb. An inexperienced person (or a distracted person doing something like, acting), may not notice a point while pulling the hammer back where the resistance of the trigger pull drops out and you can pull it in without thinking about it. At that point, trigger is in with no resistance and if the thumb slips off of the hammer, the hammer can snap back into place and fire the gun. The actor has always claimed he pulled the hammer back with his thumb, he does not remember "pulling" the trigger but the trigger likely had no resistance and it was depressed without any effort. If he allowed the trigger to make any snap instead of carefully replacing it all the way, the gun likely fired. The whole scene was about a closeup of him pulling the trigger back.

Try it and let me know how your revolver works.