Alec Baldwin fatally shoots woman with prop gun on movie set

This accidental shooting is not the event that sent my mind whirling with a sense of outrage.
It's the number of attacks on my psyche that have occurred in the last three decades.
The Wanton Killings, the theft of millions by banks and individuals with little or no punishment.

We know the Alex Badlwin will be ruled ACCIDENTAL-that is probably a correct ruling-but a person is DEAD; What Of Her.
you want to explain it was 'A Accident!

The rape on the subway.
The killings which are daily fare on the news broadcast...

Where is our sense of Outrage concerning the society we live in...
We have been 'offendefd beyond endurance, yet we do nothing.
 

Packerjohn said:
Gee! What goes with these new fangled, city slicker celebrities? Don't they know that you should never point a gun at anyone and when you do you have to always presume that it is loaded. Maybe they are hard to teach? James Arness (Marshal Matt Dillon) started in 635 episodes of Gunsmoke and he never really shot anyone. To tell you the truth, he never even married Kitty, the saloon keeper either but hey, maybe I'm getting off the topic.
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Well, "Never pointing a gun at anyone" doesn't apply in movie making when it's necessary to point guns at other actors.
 
win231 said:
If that was the case, an important rule was violated - having real ammo in the vicinity of a firearm that was intended to be loaded with blanks.
Competitive shooters (like myself) who practice dry firing (no ammo) at home know better than to have regular ammo in the same room with the gun.
And (more importantly), a gun must be checked each time it changes hands & before doing anything to it - cleaning, etc. There are two reasons for this.
1. To make sure it is unloaded when you want it to be unloaded.
2. To make sure it IS loaded when you want it to be loaded.
Once this becomes a habit, accidents are practically impossible.
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You would think they would have somebody in charge of weapons used on the movie set who checked them before they were used in a scene and unloaded them after — even if they only had blanks in them. The percussion from blanks can shatter someone's skull if fired at close proximity. There was a story about an actor who thought it would be funny to play Russian roulette with a blank. The gun fired and the blast killed him.

And why would live rounds be anywhere near the set? It doesn't make any sense at this point. We'll find out in the next few days what happened.
 
jerry old said:
This accidental shooting is not the event that sent my mind whirling with a sense of outrage.
It's the number of attacks on my psyche that have occurred in the last three decades.
The Wanton Killings, the theft of millions by banks and individuals with little or no punishment.

We know the Alex Badlwin will be ruled ACCIDENTAL-that is probably a correct ruling-but a person is DEAD; What Of Her.
you want to explain it was 'A Accident!

The rape on the subway.
The killings which are daily fare on the news broadcast...

Where is our sense of Outrage concerning the society we live in...
We have been 'offendefd beyond endurance, yet we do nothing.
Click to expand...
The missing outrage about other rapes & killings is probably due to the fact that "We" (regular citizens) can't do much about them, since we're not in a position to change them.
The outrage about this accident is that it was preventable.
 
Irwin said:
You would think they would have somebody in charge of weapons used on the movie set who checked them before they were used in a scene and unloaded them after — even if they only had blanks in them. The percussion from blanks can shatter someone's skull if fired at close proximity. There was a story about an actor who thought it would be funny to play Russian roulette with a blank. The gun fired and the blast killed him.

And why would live rounds be anywhere near the set? It doesn't make any sense at this point. We'll find out in the next few days what happened.
Click to expand...
Yes, this actor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon-Erik_Hexum
 
Why do they use real guns, anyway? Can't they just use fake guns that look real and have their sound engineers make a realistic bang?

Or even better, stop making those violent westerns with all the shooting in them!
 
When I saw the report it was reported as " on a set of a movie Baldwin is making". The reporter didn't say Alec was the shooter. The victims were both reported as being 42, but in the article you posted it says the man is 48. I'll be interested to see what the investigation reveals.

I remember when Jon Erik died. I was heartbroken and just couldn't believe it. :cry: He was absolutely gorgeous and seemed to be such a nice young man. He was a Jersey boy too.
 
win231 said:
It's my understanding that a prop gun is a real gun that's supposed to be loaded with blanks. Blanks are made up of real brass cases, real primers, real gun powder & instead of a bullet, wadded-up paper, wax, or some other material to hold the powder in the case. When the material leaves the barrel, it spreads out & won't cause injury at a safe distance, but at the guns muzzle, the pressure is enough to cause injury or death. The only way a blank can cause injury or death is if the gun is held very close to someone when fired
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Yeah

and.....IT HURTS!
 
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — "Alec Baldwin was handed a loaded weapon by an assistant director who indicated it was safe to use in the moments before the actor fatally shot a cinematographer, court records released Friday show.
The assistant director did not know the prop gun was loaded with live rounds, according to a search warrant filed in a Santa Fe court.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot in the chest on the set of a Western starring Baldwin. Director Joel Souza was wounded. The records said he was standing behind her."
Looks like the director was wounded by the same bullet that killed the cinematographer.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/sheriff-baldwin-fired-prop-gun-100904090.html
 
win231 said:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — "Alec Baldwin was handed a loaded weapon by an assistant director who indicated it was safe to use in the moments before the actor fatally shot a cinematographer, court records released Friday show.
The assistant director did not know the prop gun was loaded with live rounds, according to a search warrant filed in a Santa Fe court.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot in the chest on the set of a Western starring Baldwin. Director Joel Souza was wounded. The records said he was standing behind her."
Looks like the director was wounded by the same bullet that killed the cinematographer.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/sheriff-baldwin-fired-prop-gun-100904090.html
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Yes, the more comprehensive report I saw mentioned the ongoing concern about safety issues on the set. And you're right Win...cost cutting by producers for this low budget film was cited as a major factor. It was the Asst. Director's responsibility to make sure the prop gun was safe to use.

That poor woman, described as a rising star in her field, never dreamed that day would be her last. I feel so bad for her family, friends and the crew. I'm not a Baldwin fan but feel bad for him too. The lawsuit will wipe out that budget.
 
I do like Baldwin, but I think he has to share in the guilt and blame here. He violated the basic gun safety rules I learned as a kid. I am not alone, most of the people I know learned these rules too. It is one of the good things that comes with our "gun culture" in the US.
  • Never point a gun at anyone, even an empty one, treat all guns as loaded. And know your target. He could have aimed to the side of Halyna in a direction he was sure would not have hit anyone. Hollywood could have made it look real.
  • Always check a gun yourself to see if its loaded, first thing you do whenever you pick a gun up. Don't trust others to do it. And he should have known the difference between a real round and a blank, if he didn't he shouldn't be shooting anything.
There could well be others equally or more to blame than Baldwin, but he has to carry blame himself, just following these basic gun safety rules would have prevented the shooting.
 

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