When Alec Baldwin accidentally shot and killed a cinematographer on the set of his film Rust, it was reported he was given a gun that was supposed to be loaded with blanks but instead had live rounds. As such, it appeared that Baldwin was not at fault but new information shows he’s completely to blame.
There were a series of mishaps leading up to the shooting death of director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, but ultimately it is Alec Baldwin’s fault.
For starters, it has been reported that the crew used the gun for target practice during downtimes on the set, meaning that firearm was known to be loaded with live rounds. It was not a prop gun as many media outlets have said, it was a real gun.
Next, the gun in question was stored on a cart next to live ammo, which is a big no-no in film set safety. Prior to the shooting, the first assistant director, not the set armorer, went to retrieve the gun from a cart. The 1st AD did not check to see if the gun was loaded or not before handing it to Baldwin, declaring “cold gun.”
There were certainly several safety protocols that were ignored, but what Baldwin did was the biggest missed opportunity to avoid tragedy.
Apparently Baldwin was rehearsing a scene where he would cross draw the gun and point it at the camera for a close-up of the weapon. Obviously he was not supposed to shoot the camera lens, even with blanks. While practicing this move, he was pointing the gun at the cinematographer, with the director standing behind her. That’s when he pulled the trigger and the live round went through Halyna Hutchins, killing her and injuring director Joel Souza.
Def-Con News readers are gun savvy enough to know how this was Baldwin’ fault. He ignored every single rule of gun safety:
1 – Never point a gun at something you aren’t willing to destroy.
2 – Handle every gun as if it were loaded.
3 – Keep your booger-hook off the bang switch until you are ready to fire.
4 – Be aware of your target and what is beyond it.
When the 1st AD handed Baldwin the revolver he should have popped open the cylinder to make sure it was indeed a “cold gun.” If he had done that, this tragedy never would have happened.
Because this was a close-up of the gun, that probably meant it had to be loaded with dummy rounds as an empty cylinder would be noticeable. Still, Baldwin had the duty to make sure the gun he was given was not loaded with live rounds.
Also, Alec Baldwin is the producer of this film, which means he’s responsible for anything and everything that goes on. Did people f*ck up before he f*cked up? Absolutely, but he hired those people and ultimately everything that happens on the set is his responsibility.
I’m not saying Baldwin killed Hutchins on purpose and I’m sure he feels like shit about it, but it was his gross negligence that caused her death.
Liberals like Baldwin hate guns and think they are autonomous evil beings capable of killing without outside stimulation. I’m sure he’ll try to blame the gun for this one but it was 100% his fault.
