‘Rust’ Armorer Found Guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter
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I watched a fair amount of the trial. There are actually quite a few rules about how guns are supposed to be handled on sets, so the excuse that it was a scene involving a gun doesn't hold up. I see a lot of people saying that.
They weren't even following the most basic safety rules. Baldwin should never have been pointing a gun in the direction of a crew member, and that kind of thing was happening often there. Listening to the armorer they brought up as a witness for the prosecution, it sounded kind of like it was a matter of time before something happened, the way they were doing things.
This doesn't bode well for Baldwin, either. Yes, he was an actor not the armorer, but he's done enough movies to know better.
Right, he should never have been pointing a gun toward people, let alone pulling the trigger while it was pointing toward people. And the other basic rule of gun safety he violated was that no matter who hands you a gun and tells you it's not loaded, or that it's only loaded with blanks or dummies, you never take their word for it. You always check it yourself. It doesn't matter if it's the armorer, your sainted mother, or Jesus Christ Himself. If that's not how they do it on movie sets, then they're doing it wrong.
shareAgreed. Pretty much every story I've read about someone being shot negligently has involved someone saying "I was sure it wasn't loaded." And even after you've checked it, you don't point it at anyone. That rule applies on movie sets. I watched the testimony of the armorer and he said as much. No need to have a gun pointed at anyone to get a shot of someone shooting one, especially during a rehearsal.
shareMovies are literally full of people pointing guns toward people in them. I know there is no call for it on set, between takes. But to suggest that prop guns are never pointed at people is just absurd.
It's quite correct though that if you don't want to draw suspicion or criticism in case something goes unthinkably wrong, like live ammo being loaded into a weapon you're going to be handed, then never point it anyone or anything you don't have to. But what if Baldwin had been pointing that gun at someone as part of the scene he was shooting, would that make the death by accidental shooting of a member of the cast or crew any better or worse? Not one bit.