Alec Baldwin Charged

[alismith]

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. I love his excuses and, like any true Commucrat, he tries to shift the blame to someone else.

After all, all he did was point the gun at Hutchins and cock the hammer...but he didn't pull the trigger, so it wasn't his fault.

Poor guy.

https://www.westernjournal.com/break...estern-journal

[Oswald Bastable]

He's a good little commucrat lunatic. Nothing will come of it, rather like 0'biden's classified documents, already dismissed even though there was no way said docs could have been declassified, while it's obvious Trump's docs could have.

We're in never, never land now my friend...where some animals are more equal than others.

Hie ye to the back of the bus, do not drink from those water fountains, and, for God's sake, do not even think of eating in their restaurants...

[weevil]

Yeah it's nice to see them going through the motions but we all know he'll never do any time....big fine and probation is what I expect. Probably work out a nice plea deal and never even go to trial.

Unless they feel it might be good publicity...no such thing as bad publicity. Get that name and face in the headlines...celebs love that shit.

[Nobeard]

As much as it pains me to say this: 90% of the blame probably falls on the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.

This was a Colt single action army (SAA) revolver.
Unlike a Python or N Frame Smith & Wesson, you can't swing open the cylinder and inspect the cartridges.
Very unlikely he would even know how to do that in the first place.

Also, if the trigger is depressed as the hammer is being cocked and your thumb slips? It WILL go off.
Very unlikely Baldwin (or most people that shoot modern wheel guns and auto loaders) knew that either.

The armorer is responsible for all firearms on the set at all times.
She SHOULD have personally made sure it was empty or loaded with blanks when it was handed to him.

I've heard rumors that the cast and crew members were using it for 'target practice' between takes.
There should not have been a single round of live ammunition for a prop gun anywhere on that lot.

The 10% that falls to Alec Baldwin?
As the producer, it was his set so he hired Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.
If it turns out he knew the pistol was being used for or had participated in target practice with it?
That puts it 100% on him for negligence and reckless stupidity.

By all accounts he's a crass, arrogant, anti-gun liberal.
IF we start crucifying people based on their politics?
Then nobody is going to be afforded a fair trial.

I know this isn't going to be a popular opinion, but it's my view of the unfortunate incident.

[alismith]

The ONLY problem with your argument is that Baldwin broke the first rule of handling a gun; NEVER point a gun at something you don't intend to shoot (regardless of whether it is loaded or not.). If he hadn't broken that rule, it might have turned out to be a negligent discharge, instead of someone ending up dead.

He's still guilty.

Why he pointed a gun at her makes no sense at all.

[Nobeard]

The ONLY problem with your argument is that Baldwin broke the first rule of handling a gun; NEVER point a gun at something you don't intend to shoot (regardless of whether it is loaded or not.). If he hadn't broken that rule, it might have turned out to be a negligent discharge, instead of someone ending up dead.

He's still guilty.

Why he pointed a gun at her makes no sense at all.

All completely valid points, but there's also this to consider:
In television and films, it's often necessary to point a weapon at the camera.
Where there's a camera there's going to be a cinematographer, and director(s), plus the stunt coordinator or 'choreographer'

It's a visual medium; all about 'perspective' and 'capturing the vision' (in less than 165 takes, if possible).
It's a craft! Creating scenes that are brief, fleeting moments of excitement!
Filled, shaded and shaped with the careful nuance of emotions, to be shared with an audience and create the desired effect!
[$$$~money money mon-ey . . . MONEY~$$$]

Seriously though,
After the unfortunate death of Brandon Lee, a number of safety precautions were enacted to prevent a similar occurrence.
There is SUPPOSED to be a clear barrier such as Plexiglass or Lexan between any weapon and the camera...even during rehearsals with blanks.
Positioning and lighting is extremely critical during filming to prevent glare or reflection as it has to be invisible, so...

...yea...

Does anyone really believe that's used in every rehearsal, much less filming for scenes on the set of for John Wick or Mission Impossible?

Then again, most members of the SAG are complete idiots with any type of weapon.
Fuck sake - they shouldn't be allowed to have a pencil because it IS a sharp object, after all.

Makes me wonder how well trained Alex Buttwind (sorry, couldn't resist) is on basic safety procedures such as trigger and muzzle discipline.
That's why it's important to have competent people in charge of every aspect with a potential for injury, however slight.
Long story short, you can't leave a child (no matter the chronological age) unattended with a toy.

As a wise man once said: "This is a dangerous place so don't be careful, be competent."

Check youtube, there's some videos of Keanu Reeves doing live firearms training at Taran Tactical.
Looks like that man could actually lay down some whoop-ass if it were ever necessary.

[weevil]

Also, if the trigger is depressed as the hammer is being cocked and your thumb slips? It WILL go off.
Very unlikely Baldwin (or most people that shoot modern wheel guns and auto loaders) knew that either.

Yes but has maintained that he did NOT pull the trigger.......said it right on national TV.....if the trigger was "depressed" then he pulled the trigger.

Plus what are the chances of doing that accidentally.....could happen, but far more likely he cocked the hammer, aimed and pulled the trigger...probably just being a smartass or flirting with the gal, thinking it was blanks.

The FBI tested the gun and there is nothing wrong with it and they concluded there was no way the gun could fire without the trigger being pulled.

Was he 100% to blame...no...did his unsafe gun handling and negligent behavior kill someone...well we're gonna see what the law says....but you know I think.

[Oswald Bastable]

The FBI tested the gun and there is nothing wrong with it and they concluded there was no way the gun could fire without the trigger being pulled.

I don't believe that's entirely true. While true if the hammer is in a fully cocked position, if he was pulling the hammer back and it slipped or was released prior to full cocked position, that would fire the cartridge as long as it was back far enough for the required force.

[tank_monkey]

Yes but has maintained that he did NOT pull the trigger.......said it right on national TV.....if the trigger was "depressed" then he pulled the trigger.

Plus what are the chances of doing that accidentally.....could happen, but far more likely he cocked the hammer, aimed and pulled the trigger...probably just being a smartass or flirting with the gal, thinking it was blanks.
.

I'm pretty sure that he depressed the trigger WHILE grabbing the revolver and 'fanned' the hammer back with his thumb. That would cause it to fire without him technically 'pulling the trigger AFTER cocking it'. But Baldwin has been on western sets before. He should know that fan firing SAAs is a thing. In fact he's fired blank firing live guns in many movies prior to this. How could he have forgotten the risks of mishandling a Single Action revolver? The biggest thing, to me though, is that he was told it was a 'cold gun' aka unloaded. The blame goes around being that actors, despite their duty to double check, should be able to trust their ADs and armorers to truthfully tell them that a weapon is unloaded before a rehearsal.

My only litmus test is .... how would the justice system treat any of us, nobodies, if we did the same thing on a set? We'd be in jail right now.

[1 Patriot-of-many]

As much as it pains me to say this: 90% of the blame probably falls on the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.

This was a Colt single action army (SAA) revolver.
Unlike a Python or N Frame Smith & Wesson, you can't swing open the cylinder and inspect the cartridges.
Very unlikely he would even know how to do that in the first place.

Also, if the trigger is depressed as the hammer is being cocked and your thumb slips? It WILL go off.
Very unlikely Baldwin (or most people that shoot modern wheel guns and auto loaders) knew that either.

The armorer is responsible for all firearms on the set at all times.
She SHOULD have personally made sure it was empty or loaded with blanks when it was handed to him.

I've heard rumors that the cast and crew members were using it for 'target practice' between takes.
There should not have been a single round of live ammunition for a prop gun anywhere on that lot.

The 10% that falls to Alec Baldwin?
As the producer, it was his set so he hired Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.
If it turns out he knew the pistol was being used for or had participated in target practice with it?
That puts it 100% on him for negligence and reckless stupidity.

By all accounts he's a crass, arrogant, anti-gun liberal.
IF we start crucifying people based on their politics?
Then nobody is going to be afforded a fair trial.

I know this isn't going to be a popular opinion, but it's my view of the unfortunate incident.

Disagree. You as the holder of any weapon are 100% responsible for any negligent, accidental or intentional discharge of a firearm.

[alismith]

Disagree. You as the holder of any weapon are 100% responsible for any negligent, accidental or intentional discharge of a firearm.

UNLESS you're a Commucrat. They are exempt from any wrongdoing on their part. Everyone knows it's always someone else's fault.

[Oswald Bastable]

Disagree. You as the holder of any weapon are 100% responsible for any negligent or intentional discharge of a firearm.

Fitzed it for you.

There is no such thing as an accidental discharge...they are all negligent as each and every one results from failing to follow at least one the rules of firearm handling.