ANALYSIS – While we should all wait to assign fault in the on-set fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin of crew member until the investigation is complete, various issues have already come to light.
First, why was there a live round in a “prop” gun? I personally can’t see any reason for there to ever be live rounds on a movie set.
The tragic incident occurred when a prop gun (an old-style revolver) thought to have been ‘laid out’ by the armorer reportedly misfired. But the gun handed to the actor by an assistant director was loaded with a live round, according to a warrant from the ongoing police investigation.
Other than fake prop guns, most other real guns used on movie sets are modified to fire only blanks with some sort of internal restrictor like the blank firing adapters (BFAs) used externally by the military. The restrictor used in movies is inside the barrel, so it isn’t seen.
Though even with blanks and restrictors debris can get caught in the barrel, or the blast itself can cause injury if too close. And there is always the possibility of a faulty weapon or ammunition.
However, the assistant director was not aware that the gun was loaded since it was one of three laid on a cart by the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. Being placed on the cart supposedly meant they were “cold” or unloaded. (i.e.: safe).
The revolver’s discharge – or misfire – killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and also injured director Joel Souza.
Significantly, the set’s armorer was described as being “inexperienced and green” by a Rust production source.
One source told The Daily Beast: “She was a bit careless with the guns, waving it around every now and again.” Gutierrez-Reed, a 24-year-old former model, is the daughter of an experienced armorer who reportedly prepared her for the job.
Her dad is a former Marine who was Brad Pitt’s gun coach on “The Assassination of Jesse James.
The prop master who supervised Gutierrez-Reed on “The Old Way” with Nicolas Cage insisted that he was “stymied” by the possibility she could be involved in last week’s fatal shooting.
“I’m surprised that any of this happened under her watch,” Jeffrey Crow told the Los Angeles Times.
“I thought she was an exceptionally young, up-and-coming, very eager and talented armorer.
However, the source, who worked alongside Hannah Gutierrez-Reed on another recent film, added that: “There were a couple times she was loading the blanks and doing it in a fashion that we thought was unsafe.”
Sources say that there were at least two previous incidents of guns being unsafely discharged by other crew members before the final incident on Thursday.
Hannah previously told a podcast that she almost didn’t take the job, her first as head armorer, because she wasn’t sure if she was “ready” for it.
On the podcast last month, she discussed working on The Old Way movie, saying: “It was a really bada** way to start off a really long and cool career, I’m hoping. I just finished up working on The Old Way with Nicolas Cage, his very first Western.”
She added: “It was also my first time being head armorer as well. You know, I was really nervous about it at first, and I almost didn’t take the job because I wasn’t sure if I was ready, but, doing it, like, it went really smoothly.”
Hannah also spoke of her dad who helped to train her as an armorer: “He took me from being completely green and taught me everything I know so far and by all means, I am still learning. 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.”
“I think loading blanks was the scariest thing to me because I was like “oh I don’t know anything about it.”
Was this the issue or was there something else, like faulty blank ammunition or a live round in the revolver? Or did she simply not check the gun properly before it was ‘laid out?’ Or was there something else?
Lots of unanswered questions remain. Hopefully the investigation will illuminate.
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AmericanActionNews.com
hang the commie for being king of idiots
STILL doesn’t pass the SMELL TEST, None of it.
There’s a Whooooole lot o’ Lyin’ goin’ on here.
It’s all fun and games till somebody loses an eye!
safety is everyone’s job.
There is more to this than meets the eye. baldwin is part of the masons, and evidently he wants to level up. In order to do that one must make a sacrifice. Think about it.
Stick with “poor gun handling”. If there was a young armorer involved, then everyone else still should have done their part in proper gun handling, and the negligent shooting would not have occurred. What halfway responsible person, in any event, takes a potentially lethal firearm, points it at a person, and, without even a glancing curiosity about what might be loaded into it, pulls the trigger?!
No excuse! Loaded guns are NEVER ever used on Film Sets. The lady in question is the wife of the Lawyer for the Clintons. Is this a warning to him to not disclose all their crimes?
Wife of a Clinton Lawyer? ? ?
Now where did you come across that rumor? Or are you just making shit up as you go.
What do you possibly need to know re loading blanks ? ?
Sounds like a twit with zero gun knowledge….
The basic rules of handling any firearm are
1. Every gun is considered loaded until you, the handler, check to ensure that it is unloaded and safe. Baldwin did not do that.
2. Never point a weapon at anything or anyone unless you are willing to hurt or kill them. Baldwin did not do that either.
Baldwin was practicing a draw, point and fire with a REAL GUN, not a prop. He should have practiced with a PLASTIC non-firing replica of the REAL GUN. Then he should have personally checked the real gun with the armorer to ensure it was safe to use. Never take anyone else’s word on the condition of a firearm, do it yourself.
Of course Baldwin is an anti 2A narcissistic actor and doesn’t understand that it’s HIS responsibility to ensure a firearm is safe to use.
If anyone had made any attempt at all to teach Baldwin the basic rules of safe firearm handling, would his ego and arrogance have permitted him to pay any attention at all to the attempt to teach him? How much verbal abuse would the teacher have suffered?
Questions:
Who loaded gun
Was gun Baldwins
Were was On Set Medical Team
Where was armorer
why did this NOT occur on past sets: The Expendables, A Team, Saving Pvt Ryan, Tombstone
Bad Boys, Heat, The Heat etc since the 90s?
The manual of arms for a 1873 Colt Single Action Army is very simple. Whether the gun is contains cartridges can be determined without even picking it up. They are visible from the side. Whether it contains all blanks is simple to determine by rotating the cylinder and inspecting each chamber. Opening the loading gate and performing such a check is common practive among those who use these old guns. The ignorance of this by the so-called “armorer” and the actor involved is what caused this tragedy. Again, the question must be asked “why were live rounds present on the set.” Lots of blame to go around.
I am still puzzled as to why the armorer found loading blanks “scary.”
Baldwin is the executive producer, is he not? That means He Is In Charge! A real man would accept responsibility. Period! His set, his gun, his decision. Own up Mr. Baldwin!
thats bull … it was deliberate
As Long as there is Liberal Actors alive, we should not push them to check the Guns.
Good way to hide an affair? just sayin’
Baldwin knows what happened. He is a total whack job
So sad this happened. It appears Baldwin is trying to deflect the blame off of him. Someone in props definitely dropped the ball, however, any responsible person knows that when handed a gun it’s your responsibility to check it to make sure it’s clear. It’s obvious he didn’t do that.
Earlier reports stated that the gun used as a prop gun was fully capable of firing a live round. It also stated that it was used by members of crew for target practice. If these statements are correct, it should have never been used as a prop gun.
The still unanswered question is why he pointed it at the two directors, and fired it? That action in its self is reason to have him arrested, and let the courts figure it out.
Baldwin is anti gun. So he should not make movies with guns.