My thoughts exactly.
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There have been arguments that actors aren’t qualified to check whether the rounds in the gun are live or blanks. And that’s possibly true. But here’s a thought, this was a rehearsal, ostensibly to figure out camera angles.
So why were there any rounds at all in the gun? That’s certainly an easy thing to check, and even an incompetent like Baldwin could probably have done that. (Although we’ve all seen those videos/photos where someone checks a gun by looking down the barrel from the muzzle end.)
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This is really hard for USCCA members to accept, because we are very focused on personal responsibility and firearm safety, but there simply might not be a lot of liability for Alec Baldwin as an actor in this case. Yes, he held the firearm and he pulled the trigger, but there were crew members who were supposed to keep the firearms safe. Those people utterly failed. The armorer had ONE JOB, and she didn’t do it.
Alec Baldwin as a producer, however, might not get off the hook. He was at least partially responsible for the people who were hired, and he allowed the unsafe conditions that led to the shooting.
I know this sounds utterly backwards, that the person who pulled the trigger might be less “guilty” than the person who gave people jobs. But think in terms of civil liability. By definition, an actor is a faker who takes directions and goes through motions to make somewhat real looking pictures. Alec Baldwin is no more a gunslinger than Tom Cruise is a fighter pilot. But the company with careless safety standards creates the conditions by which accidents happen.
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The FIRST RULE when handed any firearm is to check if it’s loaded. If it is - what’s the load? Period. Baldwin wants to blame another negligent person for his own negligence.
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At the end of the day the end user is the one who’s ultimately responsible for what comes out of that firearm. Alec Baldwin in this instance is NOT a novice entertainer. It will be very hard to utterly absolve him from liability coupled with the fact that he is also the producer. Culpability runs up and down the chain of custody, but the central focus will be on the end user IMO. Alec claims that gun went off. But when did the gun go off? Did it go off when it was handed to him, when he holstered it, when he drew it from the holster, or when he pointed it? When was the hammer cocked? again, the same cycle of questions. When was it loaded (with whatever)? again, the same cycle of questions. He is the common denominator as it pertains to this negligent discharge.
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Agree that Baldwin will probably not be completely absolved. Agree that his lame excuses will make it even more difficult for his attorneys to defend him.
But actors should not be held liable for accidents if they had a reasonable belief that they were performing in a safe environment. And that’s really the central question when it comes to Baldwin. Can you convince 12 jurors that Baldwin knew he was handling a firearm loaded with real bullets for a criminal conviction? That’ll be a tough sell. Can you convince those same people that he is civilly liable because, as a producer, he permitted unsafe working conditions that led to the accident? Seems like an easier case.
Would David Prowse be convicted if someone handed him a real lightsaber and he actually cut off Mark Hamill’s hand? No. But George Lucas might have to answer some uncomfortable questions.
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Trust, but always Verify. Because anybody can make a mistake. Trust but Verify. That keeps you from having to activate your insurance. And… to preclude claims against it.
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Agree. But I don’t think charges would stick.
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But civil liability may!
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Exactly. I don’t think he can act his way out of that civil trial, if it comes for him.
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BUT, can he ‘Rich’ himself out of it. We all know there are two different legal systems, one for the rich one for the rest of us.
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Well, let’s just see what we’ll see… I’s a look’n and a listen’n.
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All this focus on the ammunition…why wasn’t the firing pin disabled??? It would have been a secondary failsafe…
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Or material welded in the front of the cylinder so only blanks would fit and chamber??
I think because it was not in the budget is the best answer we have so far.
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@Alces_Americanus “No, no, no I did NOT pull the Trigger”.
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Hello and welcome @ThomasTuck11
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Now that’s funny!!
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I watched a video of him practicing drawing the gun from inside his jacket and every time he pulled out the gun, his finger was on the trigger.
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Hello and welcome @Janet17
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