Alec Baldwin accidentally kills DOP with prop gun!

[Taipan]

It shouldn't be about personality. Actor handed gun to fire in a scene. Gun kills someone as live ammo in there. Can't see how in any way that can be the actors fault?

[Cousin Jack]

It shouldn't be about personality. Actor handed gun to fire in a scene. Gun kills someone as live ammo in there. Can't see how in any way that can be the actors fault?

No one comes out of this well.

Armourer is supposed to be responsible for weapons.
But producer (Baldwin) is supposed to hire competent people.
And any human pointing a gun at someone they dont intend to shoot should check it.

[Taipan]

It shouldn't be about personality. Actor handed gun to fire in a scene. Gun kills someone as live ammo in there. Can't see how in any way that can be the actors fault?

No one comes out of this well.

Armourer is supposed to be responsible for weapons.
But producer (Baldwin) is supposed to hire competent people.
And any human pointing a gun at someone they dont intend to shoot should check it.

In a litigious society such as America, I should very much expect that responsibility to be allocated rather than assume someone will check it as matter of course. I'd also assume that a role such as an Armourer would bear that responsibility.

[porter_jamie]

so no you dont have to take the mag out, you can just slide it back a bit and eyeball it. you can confirm if it actually does have one in the pipe (what some call condition 1) or it doesnt (condition 2, ie full mag, chamber empty) if you were not sure and racked it you could end up with a round on the floor.

When you pull the slide back you'll see the round, but only the jacket of the round, so you'll be able to tell that's it's loaded and made ready but you won't know if it's a blank or ball round.

Christ its like banging your head on a brick wall

[Horse]

And any human pointing a gun at someone they dont intend to shoot should check it.

According to one news story, he was pointing it at the camera.

[Yorick]

When you pull the slide back you'll see the round, but only the jacket of the round, so you'll be able to tell that's it's loaded and made ready but you won't know if it's a blank or ball round.

Christ its like banging your head on a brick wall

I don't think you know what you think you know.

Are they the unknown unknowns ?

[wull]

Is this one of those “accidentally on purpose” type things

[slowsider]

In the case of a revolver, since this was a Western, even a gate-loading one, would it be possible to glance at the front of the cylinder and see the nose of the round?

[Mr. Dazzle]

In the case of a revolver, since this was a Western, even a gate-loading one, would it be possible to glance at the front of the cylinder and see the nose of the round?

I think its all a bit academic, cause from the sound of it Baldwin just took the gun and believed what he was told about it.

This is why I mentioned Iccy and Yambo being soldiers. I that context its pretty safe to assume that the person handing you the gun is both honest and competent. I'm sure if you looked hard enough you could find examples of that not being the case, but by and large it'd be a reasonable bet wouldn't it?

But on a Hollywood set where they are all apparently taking pot shots with the same gun on their tea breaks? Apparently not such a reasonable bet.

[KungFooBob]

If only they'd had this...



(I wanted one of them so badly when I was a kid... but I got a toy crossbow instead...which got taken away when it appeared on Watchdog)

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

If only they'd had this...



(I wanted one of them so badly when I was a kid... but I got a toy crossbow instead...which got taken away when it appeared on Watchdog)

I knew someone who had one, it was a bit crap, I had a toy crossbow that worked from a rubber band (so not really a crossbow), I decided to up the power with a much stronger rubber band, the crossbow broke in half.

[Yambo]

And any human pointing a gun at someone they dont intend to shoot should check it.

According to one news story, he was pointing it at the camera.

And hit the DoP! He's a pretty shit shooter then!

[Horse]

And any human pointing a gun at someone they dont intend to shoot should check it.

According to one news story, he was pointing it at the camera.

And hit the DoP! He's a pretty shit shooter then!

Aren't heavy revolvers traditionally inaccurate anyway? Unless he was one of those off target shooting, I wouldn't expect 'just an ordinary person' to be that good (especially since it seems that the 'expert' thing to do would be carry out safety checks).

[Taipan]

It shouldn't be about personality. Actor handed gun to fire in a scene. Gun kills someone as live ammo in there. Can't see how in any way that can be the actors fault?

No one comes out of this well.

Armourer is supposed to be responsible for weapons.
But producer (Baldwin) is supposed to hire competent people.
And any human pointing a gun at someone they dont intend to shoot should check it.

Well I stand behind Baldwin on this, cos let's face it, you wouldn't want to stand in front of him!

[Screwdriver]

He shot her at pretty much point blank range, about 18 inches away. He is claiming he didn't pull the trigger just pulled back the hammer and it went off. This is of course impossible. He is either lying or grabbed it by the trigger (!).

The studio are claiming there is no video/film footage which is also odd. Basically Baldwin is pulling every trick in the book to try and wriggle out of any responsibility.

He literally said "someone is to blame but I know it's not me". I hope he goes to jail for a very long time...

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

He is claiming he didn't pull the trigger just pulled back the hammer and it went off. This is of course impossible. He is either lying or grabbed it by the trigger (!).

It isn't impossible, late 19th Century revolvers don't have safety catches and if cocked were prone to firing themselves, I doubt if 150 years of wear have made the revolver less prone to this, it's why you never carry a weapon cocked.

Sten guns from WW2 were prone to firing by them selves nearly a 100 years later, guns are dangerous, especially old ones.

Whoever is responsible for a firearm with live ammunition ending up on set is responsible for this accident.

[KungFooBob]

Sten guns from WW2 were prone to firing by them selves nearly a 100 years later, guns are dangerous, especially old ones.

I watched a program about Hamleys (the toy stop), during the war they made Sten guns. Apparently it was the Mk2 that was prone to firing itself. The boss at Hamleys redesigned it and the MOD adopted it as the Mk3.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

According to Wikipedia both Mk2 and Mk3 could accidentally fire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sten

[MrLongbeard]

It isn't impossible, late 19th Century revolvers don't have safety catches and if cocked were prone to firing themselves, I doubt if 150 years of wear have made the revolver less prone to this, it's why you never carry a weapon cocked.

There are 2 stops on the bottom of the hammer to prevent this, so in a well maintained modern replica (as is said to have been used) it should not be possible, hell even at half cock you can't pull the trigger on them.

That trigger was pressed / pulled, either deliberately or inadvertently.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

It isn't impossible, late 19th Century revolvers don't have safety catches and if cocked were prone to firing themselves, I doubt if 150 years of wear have made the revolver less prone to this, it's why you never carry a weapon cocked.

There are 2 stops on the bottom of the hammer to prevent this, so in a well maintained modern replica (as is said to have been used) it should not be possible, hell even at half cock you can't pull the trigger on them.

That trigger was pressed / pulled, either deliberately or inadvertently.

I read somewhere it was an original, which seems odd, and a modern replica sounds more likely.