By now you’ve probably heard that Alec Baldwin accidentally killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza with a gun on the set of a film. I can’t help but recall a similar failure that resulted in the death of Brandon Lee on the set of the Crow in 1993, but there is an important distinction. In the case of Lee’s death, the scene called for the gun to be pointed at his character; while I would encourage anyone shooting a movie to use forced perspective or CGI to avoid actually pointing a gun at a person, the scene did call for that. In contrast, there should never be a reason for a gun to be pointed at a cinematographer or a director. That’s the most shocking part of this story for me.
So now, it’s my duty to point out that if they had just followed the rules of gun safety, Halyna Hutchins would still be with us and Joel Souza would not have been horribly injured. Anyone who is handling a real gun, a realistic prop gun, or even a gun-like device (e.g., a bottle of glass cleaner, or a drill) needs to be aware of these rules and follow them at all times.
Here’s the short version of those rules:
- All guns are always loaded.
- Never point a gun at anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.
- Identify your target and what is behind it
- Be aware of your mental state and do not touch a gun if you are compromised.
A longer version is available here. I mention gun-like devices because we exist in a context where there are guns and you don’t want to accidentally shoot someone the first time you pick up a real gun because you’ve developed a habit of resting your index finger on the trigger of your plant mister. Your finger is your best and sometimes only safety device on a firearm. Conversely, no mechanical or manual safety will save you from a negligent discharge if your safety finger somehow isn’t working right.
How many of the rules of gun safety did Alec Baldwin fail to obey? Definitely the first four. Why did he not receive adequate training before handling a firearm? Were the victims of his negligent discharge also negligent?
We can certainly argue about whether guns are a good thing, and whether this hyper-violent culture we live in is a good thing; along with that, we could talk about why Hollywood keeps making firearm-centered movies despite being overwhelmingly anti-gun (which creates a dangerous atmosphere that occasionally kills someone). However, I think we all need to admit the reality of the world that we’re living in and embrace firearm safety training regardless of whether or not we plan to ever actually fire a gun.
Certainly, people working on films with firearms need this training. Here is a related Twitter thread from @t_NYC which indicates that most actors are not receiving adequate firearms training before someone hands them a gun. In fact, it makes the situation sound much more dangerous than how I’ve portrayed it.