There should never have been live "regular" rounds on the set. There is a labor dispute going on. I've been around labor disputes that got ugly where life threatening damage was done to equipment. Is it possible this might have been part of the labor dispute? Someone switched ammo?

If that was a cap and ball firearm, no cartridge, again, why would a regular load be in the gun?

It's up to the Armorer to show both the actor and the AD and anyone around around that that the weapon is indeed "hot" or "cold" and to personally hand it to the actor when you are ready to rehearse or film. Rehearsals are always done with a "cold" weapon. After rehearsal or each take, the weapon is given back to the armorer to hold until ready to film again.

IMO, it looks like somebody intentionally imperiled the entire film crew. If proper protocol was adhered to, the plot would have failed.

So there seems to be criminal and civil liability all over the place.

It’s like a cowboy murder mystery movie.

It's on the first paragraph in bold on the Safety Bulletin, "LIVE AMMUNITION" IS NEVER TO BE USED NOR BROUGHT ONTO ANY STUDIO LOT OR STAGE.

That's my biggest concern. After the labor dispute, I'm hoping no one "rigged" the gun to cause an accident. You would have to be one psychotic individual to do something like that. Apparently the Armorer had stayed behind after the crew walked off. Not sure if she was the original Armorer or an assistant that was promoted after the walkout.

She's only 24 years old.

Except that in movies, guns normally aren't empty. They are loaded with blanks.

Granted, you could/should be able to check a gun to ensure that it is loaded with blanks vs live rounds.

In the case of "The Crow" where a bullet was wedged in the barrel, but the round in the gun was a blank, that check probably wouldn't have helped.

Not Hollywood, but large power plants. "Someone" loosened all of the easily accessible bolts on a steam turbine condenser. The bolts in question are about 2.5-3 inches in diameter. And only the easy access ones were loosened.

This may not sound life threatening, but that is live high pressure steam. It is invisible, hot and deadly. The pressure at times is high enough that it makes a pressure washer seem tame. Now make it 500-900 degrees F. If anyone had been on the deck when it blew, they would have been dead.

The pipefitters had been a problem on that site. We found all sorts of stuff like that (loosened high pressure natural gas lines, cooling water tube bundles loosened. This was Rhode Island, which was notorious.

As someone said above, Baldwin the actor might not be liable, but Baldwin the producer will be.

Why didn't they clean the guns at the end of the day?

If they had done that they would have cleared the obstruction.

In the case of “The Crow” the gun was used by 2nd Unit photography for insert shots and then given back to 1st Unit to continue filming wide shots. Complete breakdown protocols.

Studios save money by Filming in NM, Ga, NC etc. They tell producers if you want your film “green lighted” you can’t fil in Hollywood, too expensive. Take it to another state where it can be done cheaper (tax incentives).

craigster59: are you an industry expert? If so, please clear this up because it will end all the opinions based on no legal and factual circumstances.

Found this in PARF:
So based on the above,
craigster59: it sounds like you are an industry expert? If so, please clear this up because it will end all the opinions based on no legal and factual circumstances.

If 34 years in the motion picture industry and a proud member of IATSE 44 doing props and set dressing makes me an expert, so be it.

I have worked on many "weapons heavy" films and TV shows. Terminator 2, We Were Soldiers Once, Patriot, Heat, Pearl Harbor, American Sniper, etc. We always had the best Armorers in Hollywood. HughR might know some of them. Harry, Mike, Bob, Rocky, they all are experts and all carry Class 3 FFL's to handle automatic weapons along with cap and ball and flintlocks.

Heck, here in California you can't even pickup rental weapons at a prophouse without an FFL, it's considered a transfer even though it's a weekly rental.

As I said before, I don't even handle the real weapons on set if I can avoid it, the less hands touching it the safer the set will be. I will hand out rubber and Airsoft guns to extras (Police, gangsters, background extras) but leave the big iron to the Armorer.

There are a lot of factors to consider when wondering how things went "sideways". The main thing is the almighty dollar. Films shoot in distant locations to take advantage of the state's tax incentives. Also, to get around Union rules and OSHA's all seeing eyes.

As has been reported, NM union people walked off due to safety standards. Sure, firearms misfires were part of the problem but the main problem is/was overwork with inadequate rest periods. In Hollywood, if we work over 14 hours production has to offer lodging near the shooting location. These guys in NM were held to 13.5 hour days to skirt the requirement and were looking at 5 hour "turnarounds" before showing up for filming the next day. That's BS.

The prop master and armorer were non-union people. Heck, the armorer is only 24 years old and her "experience" was that her Dad was a "quick draw" expert who had trained some actors in gun handling. Armorers I work with are in their 40-50's, years of experience and knowledgable in all aspects of weapons.

When I read that the AD handed Alec the gun, it told you everything you needed to know. Inexperience in the prop department.

I'm wondering if they were stuck on the ranch after hours, maybe they decided to do a little target shooting or wanted to scare away animals at night, who knows. As I've said before, you NEVER bring any live ammo around set or onto a studio lot.

Again, here is our (IATSE 44) protocol for weapons on set:
https://web.archive.org/web/20211022034823/https://www.csatf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/01FIREARMS.pdf

Maybe I am an expert, Brother Zack agrees with me...

Zak Knight, a pyrotechnic and special effects engineer who is a member of Local 44, told DailyMail.com on Friday: 'There should have never been live rounds on a movie set, that's number one. Number two is every single person on a movie set has a right to inspect a weapon before it's fired. And number three is, there is no reason to ever put a person in front of a weapon that's firing.

'Anytime you see a movie where the barrel is pointed down the camera lens, there should not be an operator behind it. It's obvious that the considerations of this resulted in that gun being pointed directly at two people.

'We would have additionally had a barrier between them. A large number of people failed to do our protocols... every accident is a cascade of events,' he said.

Whatever happened in the moments leading up to her death, Knight said it was caused by a 'cascade of failures' by multiple people. 'We have a hard and fast rule that no live ammunition ever goes into a prop truck or set at any time. We just don't do it.

'If you see bullets on set they are complete dummy rounds and are in no way functional. This goes back to Brandon Lee. There's protocol.' Lee was killed in a similar incident when another actor shot him with a prop gun that was loaded with live ammunition while filming The Crow in 1993.

Knight added that different gun laws between New Mexico and California may have also contributed to the accident. In California, both a trained armorer and a prop master is required on a film set and those are the standards the union adheres to as well.

'You will find the best and most well-trained individuals in Los Angeles. You can't guarantee that as you go across the country,' he told DailyMail.com on Friday.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10123493/Alec-Baldwin-ignored-golden-rule-gun-safety-never-loaded.html

If I comment anymore on this thread I might get my post count up into "Tabs territory".

The only difference is, I know what I'm talking about....... :D

I don't disagree with any of this except that I think that his life as he knew it is over. I've had the displeasure of meeting him, multiple times, also would not wish this on him in spite of his personality.

I've spoken to a couple of people who knew her from AFI yesterday, this was a tragedy. I also heard that he was rehearsing his "quick draw" when it happened but all information is many degrees from the event and we are in the phase of rumors and hearsay right now. It will all come out later.

RIP to a talented woman. Just a waste. :(

I wonder if Baldwin is open to civil suit from her family?

Guaranteed. Her husband is a lawyer at the second largest law firm in the world.

My last time working with him was on a film called "Malice" many moons ago. We were discussing films we had seen in the theater that were so good you didn't want them to end.

I brought up "The Right Stuff" and he lit up and told the story of him and his friends high on mushrooms watching the movie. We became fast friends. :)

Halyna Hutchins was very talented from talking with friends who worked with her. She was a rising star in Filmland as they've been reporting.

As far as the AD handing Alec the gun, a friend texted me this:

An AD should be allowed to handle 3 things:
1- A walkie talkie
2- A Callsheet
3- A sharpie
Change my mind.

The poor girl's even made it on Fox News. She's gonna need to find another line of work.

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/armorer-alec-baldwin-rust-set-admitted-nervous-abilities

I wonder how many witnesses there are to this. If Baldwin was actually rehearsing his quickdraw and if the QuickDraw was not part of the script for the screen being shot, he’s in deep do-do. Really deep do-do.

I can’t imagine the horror of one minute you’re an actor pretty much at work doing your job, the next minute you’re starring in your own nightmare and that nightmare keeps getting worse.