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Alec Baldwin to be charged with involuntary manslaughter

The Screen Actors Guild has guidelines for gun safety. The number one rule is never point it at anyone. It suggests the actor has final and ultimate responsibility for checking a weapon. It also suggests if an actor is uncomfortable, he should ask for more training. There should have been expectations from him as an actor, the producer and finally just as a human handling a weapon.
ESPECIALLY, after two earlier, accidental discharges on set throughout the week -- everyone had "two" freebies, and still squandered the learning moment...
 
My only thought about this is as a gun owner, I would never dream of taking another person's word on the status of a gun I was handed no matter what their credibility. I would inspect the cylinder or magazine, and the chamber myself to make sure it was empty or if was intended to fire blanks, examine the round to make sure it was a blank.

I'm not a lawyer so I can say that his failure to do so makes him guilty of negligent manslaughter but it sort of points in that direction.
 
What I’ve read - I know take it for what it’s worth - is the armorer wasn’t on set when the gun was handed to Baldwin - an AD handed to him and called “cold gun” without checking himself (this is person who took a deal already) and Baldwin (like every & any other actor) had the responsibility to check if the gun was indeed “cold” and he did not check - accident or not doesn’t matter in manslaughter case like this, if he was negligent in his responsibility then that is a crime
 
What I’ve read - I know take it for what it’s worth - is the armorer wasn’t on set when the gun was handed to Baldwin - an AD handed to him and called “cold gun” without checking himself (this is person who took a deal already) and Baldwin (like every & any other actor) had the responsibility to check if the gun was indeed “cold” and he did not check - accident or not doesn’t matter in manslaughter case like this, if he was negligent in his responsibility then that is a crime
From what I've read in statements from other actors, normally the person handing the actor a revolver would open and spin the cylinder in sight of the actor to show him it was indeed empty as he handed it to him. Even if this did not happen, Baldwin as an actor, producer and human had the responsibility to look.
 
You don't point guns at people you don't intend to kill. That goes for UNLOADED guns as well. That's the training and mindset.

It's so ingrained in my mind over the years that I'd have trouble feeling comfortable doing it in a movie or any situation regardless if a "professional" checked it before I did.

I have zero sympathy for slapdick gun control Baldwin.
 
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You don't point guns at people you don't intend to kill. That goes for UNLOADED guns as well. That's the training and mindset.

It's so ingrained in my mind over the years that I'd have trouble feeling comfortable doing it in a movie or any situation regardless if a "professional" checked it before I did.

I have zero sympathy for slapdick gun control Baldwin.
Spot on take, I agree 100%.


My father taught me a VERY valuable lesson when, at age 14, I damn near took off my best friend's head.
The three of us were going dove hunting with @ a dozen other hunters; it was the first hunt of the season, and my parents had gotten me a new Ithaca 20 gauge pump shotgun for my birthday........, and I did mention I was 14, right? Cool.

So, we all arrive at the farm and begin to disperse to spots all around the huge field when, just as everyone is moving away towards the field, a lone dove leaves cover from a tree and takes flight. I guess I wanted to get the first shot, get the first bird with my shiny new shotgun, so I raise my gun, swivel in an arc for the shot, fire..., and miss, lol.

At the exact moment I fired I realized my best friend was juuuuuuuust to the left of my shot pattern, but it was too late, my dumb ass, in my excitement, had fired. My dad walked over to me and, in front of all the other fathers and sons, said quite loudly, " GIVE ME THE GUN, YOU NEARLY KILLED DANNY".

He took it and locked it in the truck for the rest of the day.


Lesson?


Learned, no doubt.
 
My only thought about this is as a gun owner, I would never dream of taking another person's word on the status of a gun I was handed no matter what their credibility. I would inspect the cylinder or magazine, and the chamber myself to make sure it was empty or if was intended to fire blanks, examine the round to make sure it was a blank.

I'm not a lawyer so I can say that his failure to do so makes him guilty of negligent manslaughter but it sort of points in that direction.
We can’t afford to have that type of common sense around these parts!
 
No one was charged in the death of Brandon Lee either so I’m not sure what happens from a legal perspective when there’s an accidental death on the set of a film.

It’s obviously different than what happens with an accidental gun death not on set. Or perhaps with less famous and wealthy people.
 
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