Prop Firearm Movie Set
(AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
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The aftermath of the shooting on the set of Alec Baldwin’s production of ‘Rust’ has seen a wide range of reactions, some of them predictable, some not so much. We’ve seen everything from calls to ban all guns from film production sets to conspiracy theories claiming someone intentionally inserted a live round in the revolver Baldwin fired killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

So while it probably shouldn’t surprise us that one of the more idiotic responses to all of this has come from Baldwin himself, somehow he never fails to disappoint.

As Insider is reporting, Baldwin thinks he has the solution for ensuring movie set safety . . .

“Every film/TV set that uses guns, fake or otherwise, should have a police officer on set, hired by the production, to specifically monitor weapons safety,” Baldwin said in a tweet.

That idea would be downright funny if it weren’t so jaw-droppingly stupid.

The film industry has a well-established system of professionals and processes designed to make using guns on sets — both fully-functioning firearms and non-functioning prop guns — realistic and safe. Experienced, professional armorers have ensured the safety of thousands of productions for decades on movie sets. That’s why you can count the number of serious accidents involving guns on movie sets on one hand.

The fix for what happened on the ‘Rust’ set is to hire experienced people to ensure that actors and crew are safe. Running a shoestring production that was reportedly plagued by a range of safety issues — including using prop guns for target practice with live ammunition — is a recipe for disaster.

As anyone who’s spent any time at a shooting range around police officers can tell you, the idea of posting cops on movie sets to “monitor weapons safety” is laughable. The average NRA certified range safety officer is vastly more skilled and experienced at ensuring a safe environment when firearms are present than 98% of cops on the street.

Maybe, as producer of the ill-fated production, Baldwin should have hired someone as armorer who’d had more experience doing the job. Maybe he shouldn’t have been running a shoestring production that saw half a dozen crew members quit over a variety of concerns, including on-set safety.

In the mean time, facing possible criminal charges and potentially huge civil liability, the situation has predictably devolved into a frenzy of finger-pointing and blame-shifting.

So take Baldwin’s throw-away suggestion of a cop on every set for what it is…a half-assed effort to show concern and propose a “solution” that only further exposes his ignorance about firearms and how to use them safely.

 

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107 COMMENTS

  1. It’s everyone’s fault but his.

    Funny you would think he would have told the producer on the film about his wonderful idea….

    Who was the producer again? Alec?

    • Someone so cheap they not only hired an inexperienced armorer (by the armorer’s own admission) but then had the armorer performing “other duties”.

      Safety was compromised to save a few bucks.

    • what he’s really saying is discipline on this set was pretty loose…and he did nothing about it….

    • What needs to happen as a country, is we need to look into the false flag operation by the government on the sixt’h.

      This is the worst case of entrapment in the nation’s history.

      Political prisoners should be immediately released.

      Miner49er

        • Didn’t watch the video (it’s not how I prefer to gather information), but it seems to me that not having operable firearms on movie sets wouldn’t be a bad thing.

          If it’s just “guns are bad” virtue signaling, Dwayne Johnson can go fork himself sideways.

          But considering that actors’ jobs require them to do all sorts of things that are objectively unsafe to do with a gun that’s capable of firing real ammunition, removing that variable from the equation (provided that the result is convincing onscreen) would be logically sound.

        • OK, lets think about this. The Rock is saying NO REAL GUNS on set, not NO GUNS. Proper prop guns are incapable of firing a live round and although you could say they are “real guns” in the sense they exist and some can fire blanks and its possible they can injure (or in some cases kill) with blanks – are they considered real guns in this case or does real guns mean those capable of firing a live round?

        • “require them to do all sorts of things that are objectively unsafe to do with a gun that’s capable of firing real ammunition”

          Yes, you (Ing and then Booger) hit the nail on the head.

          That was quite the strawman argument from the normally astute Chris T. Properly set up blank guns are the same in every respect – except that one capability that is never required for filmmaking, adds zero value, and carries unacceptable risk on set. The precaution is not only logically sound; it’s the only possible outcome from logical requirement / risk / reward analysis.

          It’s the same for countless non-gun props as well.

        • Ya know,
          THOUSANDS of movies have been “shot” without incident.
          Yet here we are with Baldwin blameshifting.
          Pitiful.

  3. “Alec Baldwin: All Movies With Guns on the Set Should Have a Cop to Ensure Safety”

    All movies with guns on the set should have a cop to ensure Alec Baldwin is kept off the set.

  4. And it seems to be a misuse of a vital resource at this time when policemen and policewomen are in dwindling numbers.

  7. I shot with a federal agent who had the worst trigger discipline I have ever seen. She brought her personal revolver and cocked it with her finger riding the trigger. Not to mention she could barely handle the recoil of her service weapon. Baldwin is pandering.

  8. The previous comments reflect my thinking and they are right on the point about Alec Baldwin. He is a doofus and a killer! It’s amazing how karma comes back to bite him in the butt isn’t it?

    • Intelligent people do not listen to irresponsible, proven killers of innocent people. Throw him in jail with a muzzle…

  9. Wait a minute now…..I thought that crowd all hated cops!! Can’t have it both ways, even if you ARE royalty!

    • There is truth to that, I mean why would they want a potentially murderous racist on their movie set?

      I hope Baldwin is shooting 1950s white movies because otherwise his actors are gonna get shot by security.

    • “I thought that crowd all hated cops!”

      they don’t. they hate any national or local police that aren’t under their direct personal control and that don’t work for them, and they want to replace them will a kgb that will unquestioningly do whatever the state central committee tells them.

      just like they had in the soviet union.

  10. “That idea would be downright funny if it weren’t so jaw-droppingly stupid.”

    I could not agree more.

    • Absolutely agree. Law enforcement officers are NOT trained armorers or even RSOs. They would be helplessly lost and confused by the 65 pages of SAG regulations regarding firearms on movie sets.

      I suggested on a different site, only partially tongue in cheek, that the problem could be entirely resolved if it was a union requirement that the armorer ALWAYS stand down-range when a scene using firearms is filmed or rehearsed.

      In any situation where the armorer or anyone else hands an actor a firearm and announces “COLD GUN!” the next action must be to allow the actor to point that “prop” at his/her heart and pull the trigger.

      Weed out the incompetent armorers real damn quick.

  11. Okay, let’s go with this and see where we wind up.

    Say a film hires a cop and then says no handling guns unless the cop is there. Fine.

    People will still need to follow the safety rules and policy. If the cop isn’t there, but other people still open the gun locker, pull out guns, and don’t check them properly, bad things can still happen.

    Everything else aside, the issues at play when Baldwin killed someone, would still have been in play whether it was a cop or an armorer who was supposed to be there but wasn’t.

    • taking guns…that are supposed to be secured…out for a little target practice with live ammo was a real tipoff that nobody was in charge or fulfilling their responsibilities…

  12. Most cops know less about gun safety than Baldwin or his on set “armorer”… They’re too busy learning about ticket writing and other “revenue sharing” opportunities from the people to what ever government they call master… What he really needed was to not be so cheap and hire a real professional, knowledgeable, responsible armorer… As far as security? I’m pretty sure they are required to provide “professional” security on set…

    • MADDMAXX,

      I have heard conflicting narratives about how experienced/competent the movie’s armorer was/is.

      What all television/movie productions should do is ensure that they have both a competent armorer and an effective overarching policy about firearms handling on set which goes well beyond the armorer and actor/s who will handle firearms. Saying it another way, everyone on set should know the policy and have the authority to stop production if they see a safety violation.

      That last bit is a best-practice which modern assembly lines have in factories: everyone who works on the assembly line has both the authority and the ability to immediately halt the assembly line if they see a major safety or quality violation occur. The same should apply to television and movie sets: everyone (including such “lowly” employees as makeup artists) should know the safety protocol and have both the authority and the ability to immediately halt all activity on a set if there is a major violation of safety protocol.

      I would advise all people to refrain from participating on television and movie productions which do not have the previous policy in place.

      • I have heard conflicting narratives about how experienced/competent the movie’s armorer was/is.

        About 90 seconds of her you tube videos WILL definitively inform you of everything you’ll ever need to know about her and her skills/knowledge of everything firearms…

      • Saying it another way, everyone on set should know the policy and have the authority to stop production if they see a safety violation.

        Sort of like; Anyone observing a safety violation on the firing line can call an immediate cease fire. Everyone is a Range Safety Officer.

    • having worked in that capacity I would say you are there to control the public more than the staff..and certainly not “the money”…which can get you gone in a hurry….

      • and certainly not “the money

        Maybe you misunderstood my intent… For most cops the job is “public safety” which they execute by interrupting those dastardly lawbreakers that crazily drive five or six mph over the posted speed limit by writing $175 tickets or stopping a trucker who swerved into the third lane to avoid killing the moron who just pulled in ahead of him and slammed on their brakes by writing a $500 ticket (because truck drivers make way too much money)… Then there’s the “Speed Trap” which is nothing BUT a money maker… Maybe your experience was different but MOST cops are nothing more than revenue gatherers for local and state government… Hope that clarifies my previous statement I didn’t say the cops were “handling” the money, they just determine who pays…

  13. “Maybe, as producer of the ill-fated production, Baldwin should have hired someone as armorer who’d had more experience doing the job.”

    Maybe the movie should have had a producer who was far more experienced and, more importantly, FAR MORE COMPETENT THAN ALEC BALDWIN.

  15. Alec Baldwin did not have the kind of sense it takes to verify a weapon safe knowing full well ahead of time he would be pointing and firing it in the direction of others…others who by all accounts were just as absent minded as Baldwin. This “cop” thing only confirms Alec Baldwin remains, “Lost in Space.”

    All of 20 seconds to verify a cowboy gun/ammo/barrel. Once in your hands you own it…There is never room for error.

    • I dont think that an actor can do that .
      Once the gunm handing guy says its unloaded messing with it might not be a good idea.
      You’ve gotta remember half them on screen heros dont know which way the boolits go in.

    • Takes all of 6 seconds to point the weapon in a safe direction and pull the trigger 6 times. I saw somewhere that that’s standard protocol when handing an actor a revolver, 7 times actually to ensure you didn’t miscount. Baldwin’s mistake was hiring untrustworthy people and putting unquestioning trust in them. Even if you hire trustworthy people you should never trust them where firearms are concerned.

  17. So, if a production violates damn near every safety protocol what makes you think they’ll follow a new protocol? Also, I know several cops and veterans who have less than stellar gun safety habits.

    • what he’s saying is this production lacked an authority figure…who’s orders would be respected…seems as though they ran over this young woman a bit…and nobody did anything about it…

  18. I think all police stations should have an actor on duty to ensure that the cops don’t run out of stupid ideas.

  20. Perhaps the best solution is for actors to stop being retards. All he had to do is point the gun in a safe direction and pull the trigger 6 times before he started playing with it. You don’t even need to know anything about guns to know the reason they call them ‘six shooters’.

  21. If a cop was on the set of Rust, he (or she) could have started by arresting whoever brought live ammo onto a movie set and put it with the blanks.

    • Blank cartridges are very distinctive. More like a live cartridge was added to the prop dummy cartridges. If the dummy rounds are not altered properly, such drilling holes and/or adding a ball bearing into case, lice cartridges can go undetected.

  22. The cop would, of course, be paid for by the taxpayers. As with any good liberal Baldwin has a never ending list of excuses and bromides. He will do and say anything to evade taking responsibility for his actions.

    • production companies usually pay for the cops…who are used to provide traffic control primarily…a cushy litlle duty…and they all seem to show up for the free meals, whether on duty or not…security is there to keep the public away and protect property…controlling the staff seems to be the responsibility of directors and producers…..

  23. If the set had had an officer-on-duty when Baldwin was aiming the .45LC at Halyna, would that officer have zapped Alec, right then and there?

  24. How’s about arresting, prosecuting the actual IDIOT that did the deed?
    Baldwin’s head is so big he’s trying to put blame on everything & everyone else but himself.
    I never did like this puke Baldwin anyway.
    If S N L did a skit on him killing a cinematographer, I’d probably watch that , it would be funnier than any skit or impressions he did of 45.

    • His poor kids with his stupid, poor, fake-hispanic wife & her fake accent, have to like with Alec’s idiotic legacy forever.

      I see this as karmic justice.

  26. Because cops know everything about guns…/s I would trust my Mom with a gun before some cops i know.

  27. Alex Baldwin refuses to take responsibility, he pulled the trigger, he is responsible. It is really shitty that he is trying to blame his homicidal negligence on everyone but himself.

    • “It is really shitty that he is trying to blame his homicidal negligence on everyone but himself”

      that’s how he sees the world. the universe and everyone in it exists for him, he is the reason for it all, and if there’s a problem that means it’s someone else’s fault by definition. “my enemies surround me!”

    • Alex Baldwin refuses to take responsibility

      Alec (with a C) Baldw1n is/was and forever shall be a scumbag self important piece of shit with no regard for anyone but Alec Baldwin… Hard to believe he’s related Stephen…

  28. The article’s well-founded criticism of Baldwin is diminished by treating the one obvious and logical solution (no live props) like another harebrained scheme.

    • well in truth, for people like baldwin there is no other solution.

      (+1 for correct use of (harebrained”)

      • Thanks!

        Absent a revolution replacing “people like Baldwin” in movies, there is no other solution.

    • Except that was the case when the woman was killed. It didn’t work. So let’s just say the same thing again?

      • Sorry, I don’t understand what you mean. What “was the case when the woman was killed”? Live weapons are not prohibited from use as film props, and were not at the time of her death.

    • I’ll have to see that before I believe it. Although it sure seems like the cop involved is heading that direction.

  31. Baldwin and his ilk have never understood the concept of personal responsibility. His idea just further illustrates that he is a smug and pretentious hypocrite.
    With any justice, blame will settle right where it needs to be – in Baldwin’s lap.

  32. “Would our country be better off if Joe Biden was removed from office?”

    no. biden is a puppet and plays no role in anything that is happening except to front the subversives.

    • Well, how about if Biden were replaced as President by Donald Trump? Who ain’t playing puppet for anyone.

      • only if trump goes scorched earth all the way for keeps. ’cause that’s how the left sees it.

        but I think trump should retire and just enjoy the rest of his life. too many on the right thought trump would do all the work for them, but what this nation needs is citizens who shoulder the load.

        (not isolates who think “patriotism” means “leave me alone”)

  33. There have been a total of three fatalities involving a firearm on movie sets in US history, wouldn’t it be simpler to simply ban Alec Baldwin from movie sets?

    • Agree – over the years hundreds of thousands, if not millions of rounds have SAFELY been shot on sets. K Reeves alone maybe thousands without incident. John Wayne did all his movies without incident. Own up Baldwin!

      • K Reeves alone maybe thousands without incident.

        Yeah, can’t wait til they hand HIM a rubber gun for John Wick 4 which I believe is currently in production… Okay Keanu just point at the OTHER bad guy and go PEW..PEW..PEW…

        • Check out some of the actual, as filmed, John Wick gunfight scenes. The guns were dummies, all of the shooting was added in post-production. Reeves videos while training were to learn the “choreography” of combat gun handling.

      • still remember that scene with Jimmy Cagney…where they used a real machine gun to take off the corner of a building right after he had peeked around it….

  34. Many cops barely know which end of the gun the pointy things come out. What they need on sets is common sense, training, a licensed armor or gunsmith and absolutely no live ammo. And oh yeah, never permit Mr. Baldwin within a mile of the set.

  36. Actually Baldwin’s statement is disgusting because he is trying to remove himself from all responsibility. He was the co-producer and user of the firearm (real gun not prop is the proper word in this case). He has also been a long time critic of firearm owners and he has participated in other movies where he has used firearms. In addition, he was quoted as bragging about his prowess handling a firearm. As has been said in these comments hundreds of times, the person using the firearm is responsible for the condition it is in for its intended use. Not only didn’t HE check it but he pointed it directly at the person he shot and to do that with a single action handgun it would have required him to cock the hammer in order for it to fire by either pulling the trigger or fanning the hammer back to release it. He should be charged with negligent homicide and the other two people responsible for handling those guns are culpable as well. If they let Baldwin off the hook their should be a massive push back by the family, crew of the movie, law enforecement, and anyone who knows anything about firearm safety.

  37. Deflection 101, come up with a seemingly reasonable idea to fix the problem, propose it, and then let the discussion distract from what should really have happened. If Baldwin had followed the safety rule of considering any firearm loaded until you prove otherwise responsible gun handlers practice daily the lady would be finishing the movie right now. The ammunition dummy situation is a little more complicated than in real life, but Baldwin, although not the most stable individual, isn’t totally stupid.

  38. “Every film/TV set that uses guns, fake or otherwise, should have a police officer on set…”
    No. Someone handed you a gun. It was your responsibility to double check it yourself, dumbass killer.

  39. I can suggest a few Officers from the Portland Police Bureau. One of these cops wounded his wife in an obscenely brutal manner when he neglected to unload his 12 gauge before “playing around with it.”. Responding officers found the woman nide, on their blood soaked bed, with a singular entry wound “in the area of her right buttocks.”. They made no arrest because they ” saw no evidence of domestic violence.”. My helpful suggestion that they institute a program to distribute Kevlar condoms to their officers so that they could practice safe shotgun sex was not appreciated.

  41. “Every film/TV set that uses guns, fake or otherwise, should have a police officer on set, hired by the production, to specifically monitor weapons safety,” Baldwin said in a tweet.

    Be careful what you wish for, Alec…
    If there were a cop on the set of “Rust”, the first (and only) thing the cop would have done is arrested Alec Baldwin for manslaughter.
    Cops aren’t range safety officers. Your average cop (excluding detectives) is trained to do four things: write tickets, make arrests, bust heads, and shoot people.

    I’ve heard so many liberals saying, “You shouldn’t blame the actor for an accidental shooting.” My response is, “I also blame the producer. And who was the producer on ‘Rust’? Alec Baldwin.”

  42. A police badge magically makes you a gun expert. The hours of learning to marginally shoot a Glock is directly transferable to double and single action revolvers, belt fed guns, gatling guns, lever actions, muzzle loaders etc. Some also get time with a pump shotgun or AR.

    Police also have a history of fatal accidents, such as Aurora officer Thomas Dietzman, Jr, who was shot in the back of the head during SWAT training. Perhaps film sets need someone experienced in firearms operations and teaching gun safety, such as certified NRA instructors.

  46. Perhaps this is All a part of His and the Left’s further plan to Outlaw firearms. Have Alec shoot someone on set. Blame everyone including Evil Firearms, but Himself. Then further Preach to the Gun Grabber Choir of the Dangers of firearms in order to get them removed from Movies and continue their Assault on the 2nd A. Based solely on the Dangers of Their Use. If they aren’t safe on a Professional Movie Set. They Must Not be Safe anywhere…NAH Even the Left Isn’t that Evil…..Hmm.

  47. Alec is a dumbarse. My thoughts are:

    1. I have yet to meet a LEO that knows anywhere near what I know about firearms.
    2. Ex military would do better than LEO.
    3. I’d use a range officer as they don’t take no shat from anyone, they know what others don’t, and have experience with the dumbest of the dumb.

    If anyone has the clout, could you set up an MMA fight with Alec and me. He is taller, out weighs me, but I’ll still work him over.

  48. Hear is a solution that all of anti gun hollywood should be able to get behind, No guns. Period. No real guns. No fake guns. No rubber guns.

    Never make another gun related movie again. Otherwise hollywood is putting profit above life.

    If it saves just one life.

  49. I couldn’t read the story. Just the headline was enough. If Baldwin thinks cops know anything, it’s just more evidence to what an idiot he is. I’ve had MULTIPLE cops tell me to my face “I’m not a gun guy”

    Sorry Alec, I trust myself way more than I trust some low IQ cop. If I had been on your set, I would have backed your ass up and made clear what my job was and that I was going to do it. If you had anything more to say about it and we can walked behind the make-up trailer and I’ll “educate you about it” If I’m your gun guy, I take that serious, not like that twit you hired you cheap FK.

  50. I couldn’t read the story, just the headline was enough to make me want to hurl. If Baldwin thinks cops know anything, it’s just more evidence to what an idiot he is. I’ve had MULTIPLE cops tell me to my face “I’m not a gun guy”

    Sorry Alec, I trust myself way more than I trust some low IQ cop. If I had been on your set, I would have backed your ass up and made clear what my job was and that I was going to do it. If you had anything more to say about it and we can walked behind the make-up trailer and I’ll “educate you about it” If I’m your gun guy, I take that serious, not like that twit you hired you cheap FK.

  51. How would this work? When the stupid actor commits another hazardous (deadly) act the cop shoots the actor before another murder can be committed??? I like it!

  52. Typical Leftist responsibility avoidance response.
    Focus on the wrong problem and get a wrong solution.
    Thousands of movies have been shot (no pun intended) without incident.
    This one had an incident…at the hand of Baldwin.
    He’s responsible for what happened. Period.

    But then, blame shifting is what they do.

  54. Here is what a normal person would be facing from the law for fact accusation;

    1. If the gun is in your hand you are responsible for where the bullet goes.

    2. If the gun is in your hand you are responsible for knowing if its loaded.

    3. If the gun is in in your hand you are responsible for what happens when that gun is in your hand.

    4. You shot someone with the gun in your hand.

    5. You are responsible. You shot someone. Wasn’t intentional, ok, but the gun was in your hand making you responsible for shooting someone.

    We don’t get to say “but the guy said it wasn’t loaded when he handed it to me.” Its not an excuse that we get to use to escape blame. Sure its an accident, and, after thousands of $$$ in lawyer fees (possibly) battling criminal charges for concepts for everything from “unlawful discharge of a firearm” to “criminal negligence” to “manslaughter”, because prosecutors want to prosecute (especially if they are anti-gun) we might be able to live our lives again with the guilt that we were responsible for the accident and no one else.

    If it were us the cops would show up and that would be the end of the “investigation” with the result being what the on scene cops said, and anything beyond that would be going over it again and again and again. If we are lucky the prosecutor may say “ok, it was an accident.” but the truth overall is there is a very thin line between an accident and charges for a prosecutor and the law demands an accounting so even in an accident the one who pulled the trigger will face something. There would not be any of this drawn out intensive investigation like what is going on in the Baldwin case.

    but… Alec Baldwin by use of some Hollywood smoke-n-mirrors terms gets to basically say “they told me it was a cold gun, not my fault. See ya later.” Like most sociopaths, at some level Baldwin probably has something that feels like guilt, but, he certainly does not show he feels and is responsible despite the facts being very clear even by his own admission and him having the greatest level of responsibility because the gun was in his hand.

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