By Emily Stock
On the morning of October 21, 2021, Alec Baldwin most definitely had an epiphany. As quoted on ABC News Baldwin was, “Sitting in a church pew on the set of ‘Rust’, a low-budget Western film, the star actor observed the hustle-and-bustle around him with a renewed sense of appreciation”(Bruggeman). Within just a few hours after his moment of observation and appreciation, Baldwin stood there, and held an antique gun, a Colt 45 revolver during his marking rehearsal for the film. At this moment was when the so-called “prop gun” discharged a live bullet. The live bullet that came out of the antique gun killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.
Who is responsible for this tragedy? On a movie set how did something like this happen? Who is to blame? Who is responsible for this tragedy? What are safety regulations on movie sets?
"Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can't say who that is, but I know it's not me,'' said Alec Baldwin, during his interview on ABC news (Bruggeman). So what exactly happened to cause such a tragedy? This is how the tragedy began the day of October 21, “Mr. Baldwin was rehearsing a scene that involved cross drawing a revolver and pointing it toward the camera lens” (Astor). As Alec Baldwin was pointing the gun, it went off. Baldwin claimed that he never pulled the trigger. According to a report on Today News, the damage that this bullet from the antique gun caused was extensive. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was struck in the chest while Souza, who was reportedly standing behind her, was hit in the shoulder. After she was shot, the cinematographer was taken by helicopter to the University of New Mexico Hospital…” At the hospital, Hutchins was sadly pronounced dead. Director Souza was at the same hospital but survived and was released later that day(Koenig).
Hannah Gutierrez Reed was the film’s 24-year-old armorer and prop master. According to NBC News, this is what the job of an armorer is on a movie set: “The armorer is responsible for all firearms and blank ammunition on set, and weapons should always be under the tight chain-of-custody of that person.”(Arkin) Reed claims to not know where the live rounds came from and blamed producers for unsafe working conditions. The ABC News article states, “She did spin the cylinder. She showed Mr. Halls each of the rounds. There were six dummy rounds that she had loaded into that firearm that she believed had been dummy rounds. She did spin it. She did check it by spinning it,” said attorney Jason Bowles. (Richwine) On ABC's Good Morning America show, Reed’s attorney, Jason Bowles states “But they wanted to do something to cause a safety incident on set. That's what we believe happened.” (Richwine) As of now, it is believed that someone might have been behind this freak accident, but the armorer on set might not be to blame.
Shockingly, in the world of movie production and safety, there are no definitive set of regulations on the use of firearms. In New Mexico, where ‘Rust’ was filmed, there are no specific safety laws. This means that instead of regulating firearm use on film and TV sets, many states leave it to the industry to follow its own guidelines. In the Chicago Sun Times it explains the workplace regulations that should be applying to the film industry: “State and federal workplace safety regulations apply to the industry just as they do to all other workplaces, and the state Occupational Health and Safety Bureau is investigating, Sackett said of the tragedy that unfolded on a movie ranch near Santa Fe.”(Mulvihill) For this tragedy to have been avoided, maybe states should be following a more strict guideline when it comes to gun safety on movie sets in the film industry. Mulvihill explains next what safety guidelines state, “Safety meetings are to be held, actors are to keep their fingers off the triggers until they’re ready to shoot, and guns should never be unattended, the guidelines state.”(Mulvihill) For now, no one has been charged in connection with the shooting. Blame has not been placed on anyone yet by authorities. So, the real question is if all these safety precautions were tended to, how did a live bullet enter the gun?
Photo Credit:
Jae C. Hong
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