SANTA, FE, NM –-(Ammoland.com)- What happened on the Alec Baldwin western movie Rust set is a tragedy and could only occur through negligence.
Last week during the filming of the western movie Rust in Santa Fe, New Mexico, actor, and executive producer Alec Baldwin accidentally shot director Joel Souza and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Hutchin was a talented filmmaker, former investigative journalist, and mother. She was 42.
The lack of safety on the set was so much of a concern that the crew of Rust quit in protest over the conditions. The producers, including executive producer Alec Baldwin, allegedly cut corners to save money. After the crew left, Baldwin hired a local replacement crew and moved forward with the production as if nothing ever happened.
Some of the safety concerns involved two separate accidental discharges of firearms in the days before the fatal shooting. According to famed movie armorer Larry Zanoff, live ammunition should never be on a movie set. Zanoff has served as the armorer for the movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The upcoming Matrix movie, and the Bad Boys movie series.
“Live ammunition should never be on set,” Zanoff told AmmoLand News.
The 24-year-old armor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed oversaw all the firearms on the set. She is the daughter of long-time film industry armorer, Thell Reed. Thell Reed is a legend in the film world and specializes in westerns. Industry insiders call Gutierrez-Reed “inexperienced.” One person in the industry wondered if Gutierrez-Reed moved up in the industry so fast because of her father.
Gutierrez-Reed has been subject to criticism for her firearms handling in the past. According to the Daily Beast, she is “inexperienced and green.” Sources on her last movie, The Old Way, claimed that “she was a bit careless with the guns, waving it around every now and again.” Before it was properly checked, she allegedly handed an unchecked gun to the 11-year-old actress, Ryan Kiera Armstrong. Production had to be temporarily stopped because of the mistake.
Another point of concern with the filming of Rust was the chain of custody of the firearm in question. The gun was handed to Baldwin by assistant director Dave Halls. The assistant director told Baldwin that the revolver was “cold,” meaning that it was unloaded. Baldwin didn’t check the gun for himself. According to Zanoff, during the filming of a movie, the only people that should touch the firearm is the armorer and the actor.
“The armorer is responsible for the chain of custody,” Zanoff told AmmoLand News. “Only the armorer and the actor should be touching the firearm.”
Halls also has had safety complaints against him dating back to 2019. During the filming of the Hulu series Into the Dark he did not hold the required safety meetings and did not announce when a firearm was on set as required by the protocol. He also wanted to film pyrotechnics without the required standby medical personnel.
“I told him they are free to film whatever they want, but that there would be no fire or sparks, etc., until the medic, fire safety officer, and all of my crewmates were safely back on set,” pyrotechnician Maggie Goll told CNN.
Baldwin is the executive producer of Rust. He is responsible for all actions on the set. He could be found negligent, especially because he didn’t check the gun and did not handle the previous incidents of the lack of firearm safety on the set. Legal experts AmmoLand News consulted said that Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed could be charged with manslaughter. The legal experts believe that a civil suit against everyone involved and the production company will be coming soon.
This incident shows that gun safety needs to be practiced even with prop guns on movie sets.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
It was not a ‘prop’ gun! It was a real, fully functional gun used as a prop.
Right and All Safety Operations were not.
Correct. The only thing ‘prop’ about this particular incident is the propaganda spewed by the corporate media in order to cover for a New Left Progressive icon.
Prop is short for property. It doesn’t mean fake or pretend.
I’ve been trying to say the same thing. All prop means is that the firearm in question is property of the production company.
“prop gun” is anything used on a movie set. Doesn’t matter whether its functional or not. It is used on set and shows up on the screen, it is a “prop gun”.
There are different “categories’ of “prop gun” and each one calls for different handling protocols. The Armourer is the one person responsible for maintaining safety as those lumps of stuff that look like guns (whether they ARE or not is immaterial) on screen are handled during productioin.
Everyone handling a gun is responsible for safety, especially the gun grabbing psycho who
Pointed it at her
then pulled on the trigger
Without checking it
Arrec Barrwin Haiku
Baldwin is an Arrogant A** Hole I hope they hang his ASS
Won’t happen. In two weeks the corporate media will paint him as a victim and he will move-on-dot-org to his next fiasco.
Poor Alex…he is so sad and sorry for what had happened. Especially once he sobered up. He is an AH, and will probably be able to grovel his way out of any charges.
As much as we all might despise Baldwin, it would be a major stretch to consider a criminal charge. For those who couldn’t be bothered reading Zanoff’s actual article and who ignorantly babble on and on about the rules of gun safety, the reality is that movies have completely different rules — rules that are specifically designed to prevent this kind of tragedy. Actor Baldwin should have recognized that the rules were not being followed based on his experiences in other movies but his actions as an actor were not the cause of this tragedy. On the other hand, Producer… Read more »
Does he know the person holding the gun is to insure it is not loaded? That you treat it as loaded if after checking it?
According to Attorney Andrew Branca under New Mexico law he should be charged with involuntary manslaughter. I belive it is unlikely the prosecutor will charge a liberal actor, as the state is 2/3 Democrat. Of course liberal prosecutors have no problem prosecuting people defending themselves against a mob that has threatened to kill them and burn their house.
“it’d be a major stretch to consider a criminal charge. For those who ignorantly babble about the rules of gun safety, the reality is movies have different rules”
Like the rules of physics?
“Baldwin’s actions as an actor weren’t the cause of this tragedy”
BS. Baldwin should’ve checked the gun. The rules of physics are not suspended, nor should the rules of gun safety & the rule of law: manslaughter. Baldwin claims to know enough about guns to push bans, which makes him guiltier. It’s sickmaking, all the Hollywood suckups excusing Baldwin & blaming others.
Baldwin was also a co-producer. Therefore, he had executive responsibility for what happened. That, and the fact that h3 pointed a firearm at a person and pulled 5he trigger renders him culpable. Admittedly , Baldwin is isn’t the brightest actor in Hollywood, but his penchant for drugs, alcohol and especially his anger only increase his liability. Talk all you want about his innocence, but Baldwin does bear-a great deal of responsibility for what he did.
should get manslaughter at the minimum
Highly likely he will get a pass on the criminal charges as the is a liberal actor. New Mexico is 2 to 1 Democrat. However, he is in deep trouble for a civil suit, which he totally deserves.
Alec Baldwin puts the laughter in manslaughter!
Wow, long line of Baldwin shills here!
“Stay over the target stupid shit, keep getting your useless ass shot down!”
-WillTEX, low-IQ ex-enforcer poopy-mouth thug w/5 sock pups
M.O. Delete post and RUN AWAY! LOL!
Baldwin found out what KARMA is.
“Baldwin found out what KARMA is.”
What did Halyna Hutchins find out?
Baldwin will surely skate from clear manslaughter. Bet they didn’t even drug test. I don’t see much karma or justice coming for him.
I had the same question. Was there a tox screen completed and/or was he checked for alcohol usage? Alex is known for his alcohol abuse and temper. Not completing these exams is/was a screw-up. Been there, done that. I was a a DRE (drug recognition expert) for LAPD for 5 years.
The American psychodrama continues. Baldwin (a EL-ite puppet & known domestic violence nut-job will never accept responsibility for violating Jeff Cooper’s 4 rules of Gun Safety dogma.
Like the game Clue who done it only real.
Clown World Psychodrama.
Don’t forget violent homophobe.
Jeff Coopers “4 Rules” are completely irrelevant. They are not applicable to any sort of stage or screen theatrical performance.
There are completely different rules and protocols for such situations. These protocols are much more detailed and are the direct responsibility of the Armorer to ensure are followed. Those rules were totally ignored throughout this production. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed totally failed to do her job as Armorer. The only questions are to what degree her multiple failures were due to incompetence and to what degree those failures were due to the producer overruling her and her failure to refuse to continue.
Uh huh. The rules of physics are magically suspended for Alec Baldwin. He should be paying you for this crap.
Hubris is the Achilles Heel of the Progressive New Left. When you are not as smart as God but declare yourself to be God nonetheless you can expect a bad outcome. This is the problem with Progressive New Left ideology and culture. Lacking natural law guard rails and guidance these directionless and impulsive bearded toddlers bounce through life off the walls of common sense and common decency. They make the rules. The rules they make have no moral foundation and a very weak philosophical foundation. That is exactly why our culture is a declining culture. When you declare a silent… Read more »
impulsive bearded toddlers now THAT is a twenty dollar phrase right there. <akes me think of the old meme : “if it feels good do it. If it eflt good once do it again” that makes life “all about MEEEEEEE” which is a boring one note samba. And leads to the mess we’ve got going now Trouble is, and what these clowns fail to realise, is the universe can only have one Centre. And each one of them wants to BE that centre. Simple maths preclude that scenario, but since they hold maths to be racist, and racist is the… Read more »
“Baldwin didn’t check the gun for himself.”
End of discussion. Baldwin was the producer who cut costs and the fool who didn’t check to see if the gun was loaded before pointing it at someone and pulling the trigger. He should be charged with negligent homicide and go to prison. No special treatment because he is a Liberal so-called celerity. Period.
Tens of thousands of movies produced in the past. Now within the last couple decades we have a few people getting killed. What’s changed ?
two generations that fought in wars , and the no gun descendants of hippy s
If the anti-gun rights people are consistent, Baldwin’s name never should have mentioned, his picture never shown, regardless of his finger on the trigger, it is the fault of the gun. Just like in Chicago, he is not responsible for his actions.
The firearm is responsible.
I’ve been on two movie sets with a friend (retired LEO) who was the armorer on the set working for Stembridge Arms. I was beyond impressed with the safety protocols required for the shooting scenes! You would be too! From what I’ve read, these required safety protocols were NOT implemented, if any, were practiced at all on this film. And yes, the actors ARE required to inspect the weapon being used.
The news is not clear. But it seems that Mrs Guteress was not present on the day of the death.
Sorry for misspelling Hannah Gutierrez-Reed
It is my understanding that the actor is not supposed to mess with the gun once the armorer hands it to them. They are supposed to simply act, it isn’t up to them to check to see if it is loaded with blanks or empty. This screw up clearly falls on the armorer and assistant director who handled the “cold gun” prior to handing it to Baldwin. I don’t see where Baldwin can be held criminally responsible. Civilly he is screwed.
Stop excusing manslaughter. Hollywood & Alec Baldwin are not exempt from the laws of physics.
Everyone
should check
the gun
Would you inspect a firearm after being given is and before you pulled the trigger while pointing it at someone? If so, please don’t buse my range.
“If so”? You mean if not, right?
I’d inspect before pointing at someone & pulling, and never get to the pointing & pulling. No need to aim right at someone for a flick or series.
Any fool who doesn’t follow the simple rule of always assuming the gun is loaded until you check is personally should never touch a gun. Period.