'Rust' Armorer Convicted

[Yaworski]

One interesting piece of evidence was the box of dummy ammo. It was a box marked "Dummies" but there were two live rounds mixed in. Not blanks, live rounds with primer, powder, and bullet. How does that happen?

Just like in a classroom setting, there is no need for live ammo to be present.

I did see an interview with Thell Reed and he opined that it was sabotage, an effort to derail the production. Not necessarily to kill anyone, just disrupt things.

 

[1sailor]

I would sure like to believe that any actors handling firearms would at least be given a rudimentary safety course on it's use. With regard to post #11 stating that colt and colt "type" pistols going off without touching the trigger, how exactly is that even possible if the hammer is not cocked or struck with something?

 

[Ματθιας]

Attorney for 'Rust' armorer says others should have been charged criminally
Updated: 9:55 PM MST Mar 8, 2024
John Cardinale

'Rust' defense attorney says others should have been charged

...Bowles believes "Rust" prop master Sarah Zachary should have been criminally charged.

During her testimony, it was revealed after the shooting, she took two loaded guns and threw rounds from them away.

Those rounds were never recovered or investigated.

Zachary was never investigated criminally. ...

If that's true, how is that not tampering with evidence?

 

[paplinker]

I always found it curious why someone hasn't invented a way that only a dummy round would fit in a film firearm.

 

[Ingramite]

Well if it comes to it, I'll volunteer to be her celly.

 

[jeffrefrig]

As an outsider, it's all "woulda, coulda, shoulda." If nothing else, this should bring a little more training and policies to the film making industry.

 

[Yaworski]

With regard to post #11 stating that colt and colt "type" pistols going off without touching the trigger, how exactly is that even possible if the hammer is not cocked or struck with something?

If you cock it part way and release the hammer without pulling the trigger, the half cock notch is supposed to stop the hammer. However that may not happen.

Years ago, I put a mag into my Colt GM, dropped the slide and blew a hole in my floor. Never could reproduce that event. I must have dropped the slide on hundreds of dummy rounds and the hammer never fell.

With a revolver, the grip is designed so your finger naturally goes into the trigger guard. I'm thinking that he had his finger on the trigger without realizing it so when he released the hammer, it fell and fired the "dummy" round.

The still unanswered question is how did live ammo get loaded into that gun?

 

[Yaworski]

Well if it comes to it, I'll volunteer to be her celly.

She is cute.

 

[Farmer17]

I read where James Cagney was filming a black and white movie and there was a scene where he ducked behind a brick wall and they fired a Thompson with live ammo into the bricks. A brick chip hit him in the eye and he nearly lost his eye. I think firearms safety has come a long way in the film industry but you can't ever be too safe with guns.

 

[Beemerguy53]

Baldwin was the last person to handle that firearm before it went off. Whether it was his fault or not he had the last chance to save that girl. A little training on his part could have made all the difference. Never take anyone's word that a gun is safe.

This was exactly my argument, until I read from several sources that this isn't the way movie sets handle firearms. As unorthodox and unacceptable as it seems to you and me, and everyone else on here, apparently the SOP in the movie industry is to delegate responsibility for firearms safety to an "armorer".

I can't imagine taking a firearm handed to me by someone and accepting that it's unloaded, or loaded only with blanks, because someone else says it is. But that is apparently what happens in Hollywood. I still think Baldwin is responsible for what happened, but I don't think a conviction in his case is a slam-dunk.

 

[Magnum_PI]

Seems to me the girl was inexperienced or didn't know what she was doing.

Baldwin is a dope for pointing a gun at someone, being ignorant, and pulling the trigger.

If he skates on criminal liability, he would most likely still have civil liability as a producer.

 

[WR Moore]

I wasn't there. Having said that, I expect the armorer got nailed because there was live ammo on the set when there shouldn't have been. No idea what security measures they had in place to safeguard the ammo supply and firearms.

The young lady seems to have been a first time armorer. One wonder how assertive she might have been. One also wonders how much "Do you ever want to work in this industry again?" pressure might have been exerted/implied. It takes real gumption to walk away from a dream job because your boss is an overbearing donkey.

All that said, there's case law in that state that it doesn't matter who loaded the gun. If you point it at someone and it goes bang, it's homicide (of some degree-don't recall). I'm somewhat suspicious that the fact hasn't come up except in a legal blog. Is the DA sandbagging hoping the defense doesn't know the case law until it's too late or is the sandbagging on the charge?

 

[Yaworski]

All that said, there's case law in that state that it doesn't matter who loaded the gun. If you point it at someone and it goes bang, it's homicide (of some degree-don't recall).

Case law only matters if they elect to charge.

 

[dave1918a2]

Baldwins a mega-millionaire and He will buy fantastic roller skates.

 

[bluetopper]

The lady who Baldwin shot wasn't even an actress. He had no business pointing the gun at her much less pulling the trigger.

 

[pantannojack]

I saw a vid clip of her holding the revolver with the finger tips of her right hand and grappling to load rounds from her fanny pack on the left with her left hand. It looked very non experienced, very frail, someone not to be trusted. I ain't no Jerry Mc but I cradle a single action in my left hand solidly for control and rotate the "drum" as described by another witness, with my lft thumb and load the chambers with my rt hand. Most important thig is keep it pointed in a safe direction and a quote from the movie Culpepper Cattle Company: "Don't let you mouth overload your hardware, Cowboy." I just don't trust anybody else with guns unless the are established in Conventual Bullseye or HP rifle, or Small Bore Rifle. No Combat shooters in my click.

 

[rwsmith]

This isn't going to be a popular opinion....

I don't think Alec Baldwin is to blame for the shooting. Actors aren't supposed to know anything about guns. Let's say someone hands him a Tommy gun, a Garand or tells them to load or shoot a Gatling gun? They don't know all the ins and outs of how every gun works and they don't know what they are going to be asked to do on the set. The ARMORER is the one responsible for the condition of all guns. So I'm glad they nailed this no-nothing who said she was an armorer because her father was one.

NOW! Bear with me. ALL of the show's producers, including Baldwin, should be liable for manufacturing an UNSAFE workplace by their hiring and by their practices. The result of the crew leaving due to safety issues (including negligent discharges) and hiring people just to continue production in the same, unsafe way was a CRIME waiting to happen.

The director that handed him the gun and said it was cold did the smart thing and admitted his guilt. Baldwin is trying to cover up his careless actions in front of the camera. I think that the real blame is what happened when the camera wasn't rolling to generate such an unsafe work environment. If they let the main people responsible for this climate skate, a great injustice will be done and Gutierrez will be a scapegoat.

I hope that the end result of all this is tighter controls on guns used as props in movies. And no shooting during breaks with any guns used in the movie. That was also responsible for Brandon Lee's unnecessary death.

I don't like Alec Balwin worth a durn, but I don't think he acted improperly ON THE SET, but is criminally liable for his actions off the set. The shot was an accident. What CAUSED the shot was criminal negligence.

This has no bearing on us as gun owners as we are supposed to know what we are doing with guns and can't put the blame on anyone else when we screw up.

 

[03hemi]

Well if it comes to it, I'll volunteer to be her celly.

Eew, WOOF!

 

[GypsmJim]

The shot was an accident. What CAUSED the shot was criminal negligence.

Outwardly, that would seem to be the case.

However, all throughout this unfortunate saga one thing just sticks in the back of my mind. Was there sabotage here? Did someone deliberately load the gun with a live round?

 

[rwsmith]

Often.....

The lady who Baldwin shot wasn't even an actress. He had no business pointing the gun at her much less pulling the trigger.

Often an actor plays to the camera, not a particular actor. In fact, what the actor is playing to is often not there at all, but added post-production. It's difficult to parallel a movie set with real life.