Alec Baldwin Movie Set Accident

[Joker12]

Why would a prop gun on a movie set be loaded?..... also if the armorer on set hands you a "gun" and the director says point it at me so we can get the right angle why in world would anyone reasonably think they would hand you a real weapon with live ammo in it... on a movie set?....

Why would any responsible person follow those instructions, wait I'll answer that, they wouldn't without checking the firearm themselves.

 

[503]

There shouldn't be a firearm or ammo anywhere near a movie set. They are called props for a reason.

 

[Tbitty]

But... but... but he didn't pull the trigger!

That doesn't really fit the concept of "it's a movie prop that shouldn't be loaded and I was told to act with and use it." If you're acting with it, then you'd use it. Part of using it is pulling the trigger.

If you "didn't use it," then you weren't acting with it and were recklessly pointing a gun around.

 

[John Wasmuth]

People fail to realize that the so called “Prop Gun” is a real honest to god working replica of a 1873 Colt Single Action revolver, not a toy, not a blank gun, not a cast replica, but a real handgun chambered in .45 Colt. The guys had a history of playing with guns in a bunch of movies and he knows how they work. If you believe he’s an innocent bystander in this negligent homicide you’ve got more problems than he does.

 

[Frederik]

This leaves a wide open gap for anyone who picks up a gun or being handed a gun and shooting anybody and then saying I didn't know it was loaded. He could shoot two persons and say I didnt know there would be two bullets.

Same as driving a car hitting someone and saying I didnt know a vehicle could be this dangerous.

With all his years of movies and training the 1st rule of checking if a gun is safe or not was not done!
It would have taken 5 seconds to check. Not caused a death and thousands of hours 26 pages spend on a hunting forum talking how crap this whole event was.

 

[CBH Australia]

Imagine you are an Uber driver. You are not a car guy, you are a transportation specialist… of sorts. You are an independent contractor scratching out a living doing what you love best; making money slightly more slowly than your car depreciates.

Since you are not a car guy you take your Toyota Camry to a “mechanic” for repairs. You take it to a tire shop that has billboards on the highway and gets good Yelp reviews. They rotate your tires and change the break pads and off you go.

Your next passenger gets in, you zoom down the highway to get them to the airport, and the wheels fall off because the incompetent, untrained child who put the nuts on, really didn’t.

You took on the inherently dangerous endeavor of driving a car, but you didn’t bring your torque wrench to double check the work of the subcontractor you hired to make the car safe. Hell, as a not-a-car-guy you wouldn’t know a torque wrench from a pipe wrench. How culpable are you here? How negligent are you here?

(This scenario presumes you have no objectionable political views that make armchair legal experts all grumpy and conflate feelings with actual law.)

But that's not what happened. He pulled the trigger of a loaded firearm while it was pointed at a person and that person was killed when the firearm fired a live round killing her and injuring another while had it pointed in her direction.

Treat all guns as loaded.

 

[mark-hunter]

Treat all guns as loaded.

This is the rule, but not the law.
They will judge him by the law.
So he got away with it legally, but not morally.

 

[Zambezi]

Imagine you are an Uber driver. You are not a car guy, you are a transportation specialist… of sorts. You are an independent contractor scratching out a living doing what you love best; making money slightly more slowly than your car depreciates.

Since you are not a car guy you take your Toyota Camry to a “mechanic” for repairs. You take it to a tire shop that has billboards on the highway and gets good Yelp reviews. They rotate your tires and change the break pads and off you go.

Your next passenger gets in, you zoom down the highway to get them to the airport, and the wheels fall off because the incompetent, untrained child who put the nuts on, really didn’t.

You took on the inherently dangerous endeavor of driving a car, but you didn’t bring your torque wrench to double check the work of the subcontractor you hired to make the car safe. Hell, as a not-a-car-guy you wouldn’t know a torque wrench from a pipe wrench. How culpable are you here? How negligent are you here?

(This scenario presumes you have no objectionable political views that make armchair legal experts all grumpy and conflate feelings with actual law.)

Except that he didn't take it to the experts with good yelp reviews he took it to a backyard mechanic... remember the expert firearm specialist left the set due to the way the firearms were being used and handled. Alec, the brainiac, then decided to employ a cheaper, younger inexperienced person instead of addressing safety and the associated risks and hazards. His choice as producer and director. CULPABLE.

He took on the inherently dangerous endeavour of driving a car... Well Alec took the inherently dangerous decision to allow live ammo on set. Further he knew the firearms were being used for target shooting. Furthermore he knew that the armourer was inexperienced and allowed it. CULPABLE.

Lastly, as a person who knew and was party to all of the above he STILL did not check the firearm. HIGHLY CULPABLE.

If his aim was as bad as your analogy this would never have happened.

 

[Zambezi]

I wouldn't be giving up hope. ( Note: I'm not familiar enough with US laws, I'm interpreting from general principal as it would apply in my country).
My understanding is that the charges have been withdrawn to allow investigation of the "further evidence" presented by the defence at the last minute. The prosecutors have stressed that charges may be reinstated once the new 'evidence' has been investigated. The matter was due for hearing in a few days. Had they proceeded in the face of potentially exculpatory evidence, it was likely the defendant would have been acquitted. Once acquitted, double jeopardy rules mean he couldn't be re-tried even if the new 'evidence' was ultimately shown to be false or irrelevant. In cases like this, withdrawing charges is a tactical move to give investigators the opportunity to investigate the evidence and plug any holes and re-charge at a later date.

Thanks for clearing that up. I hope that justice does prevail and the case is brought before the courts again. With a competent DA that actually wants to get a conviction...

 

[CBH Australia]

This is the rule, but not the law.
They will judge him by the law.
So he got away with it legally, but not morally.

Correct,

I won't speak to your laws as I don't know them. I'm not really following the case.

It's not law , I'm not quoting law.

It's the golden rule and just a statement and a reminder.treat all guns as loaded.

If someone can be charged with vehicular manslaughter I'm surprised there is not some liability here.

 

[C.W. Richter]

There is nothing that cannot be done with $$$$$$! LOL Plenty of Hollyweird's out there that killed people, and for $15M-$18M+, they got off the hook. Baldwin too, is a double-negative. lol

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

New gun analysis determines Alec Baldwin pulled trigger in 'Rust' shooting, prosecutors say

Prosecutors in New Mexico are determining whether to re-file charges against Alec Baldwin in the fatal "Rust" shooting following a new gun analysis.

www.usatoday.com

 

[Andrew62]

Maybe the simplest thing to do, since he will never see the inside of a jail, is to give 100% of the profits from this movie to the family of this young lady who was killed. And if they doctor the books to show no profit, then Alex should pay her family 5 million dollars. WTH would there ever be live ammo on a movie set? FDA's

 

[Doug3006]

Way back in this thread I predicted that the first thing the authorities would do is function test the weapon. I was wrong. Apparently it took them 2 years to wrap up this arduous task. However, in the fullness of time, the obvious truth has come out. The weapon wasn‘t defective. Baldwin was defective.

 

[shootist~]

Or the New Mexico prosecutors just now read the FBI memo from about 18 months ago.

 

[cajunchefray]

Or the New Mexico prosecutors just now read the FBI memo from about 18 months ago.

Amazing the FBI took 18 months +/-to determine an 1873 design did not malfunction.
Perhaps timing with the civil settlement?

Still a tragedy that this woman was killed, and another person wounded.

Since the initial news of this tragic, stupid event, my mind always goes back to my Dad, the Cub Scouts, and NRA training.

: Treat all weapons as loaded. Check, double check, and then check again.
: Always be aware of where your muzzle is pointed
: Never point a firearm at anything that you don't want to destroy.
: For reference, see above

The revolver on set is a Deadly Weapon. Never forget this. It is not a "prop"

Alec Baldwin, and the related crew are culpable in the killing of this woman.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

I simply don’t understand the American infatuation with actors and ‘celebrities’. These people are absolutely nothing special , their trade is menial at best and it is predicated upon pretending. They only claim their special status because you give it to them. They are frequently quite damaging people too. Let it go!

 

[mark-hunter]

Intersting comment.
Its about percentage.
Maybe 1% of population is following and are fans of celebrities. maybe.
Now, make calculation in numbers.
This gives impression that everybody is influenced by them and their acts.
So, some celeb has 1 million followers and fans. But there is 7 billion people on earth

Me?
I dont care, I have my priorities of other kind. For example to hunt buffalo on next occasion. Celebs, irrelevant.
I am sure other members of forum have similar priorities

But, celebs have influence on certain number of population- and it gets in media.
My buffalo priority does not make headlines

 

[Hunt anything]

I simply don’t understand the American infatuation with actors and ‘celebrities’. These people are absolutely nothing special , their trade is menial at best and it is predicated upon pretending. They only claim their special status because you give it to them. They are frequently quite damaging people too. Let it go!

Kevin, there are a lot of Americans that don’t understand it either, to me people are people, to me it makes no sense.

 

[Doug3006]

I’m not 100% against the idea of holding someone in high regard if they excel at something worthwhile. Even actors. Spencer Tracy, James Cagney, Maureen O’Hara, and Tom Hanks are just a few of the top-tier actors who made movies that entertained and made you think. Yes, they were “pretending” which is kinda required when acting. When they were at the top of their game, they could transport an audience. Where I draw the line is when people, fans if you will, give these celebrities credit for being more than they are. For most,their background, training and life experience in no way makes them politically, or socially, any smarter than the general public. Shut up and sing as the saying goes.