What I see from most posters are these points:
1) The responsibility of making sure that a weapon on a film set is safe to use falls on the person whose literal job is making sure that a weapon on a film set is safe to use.
2) It is unclear to many of us the type of safety training received by the actors and whether or not it would be appropriate for an actor to open a prepped weapon OR if an actor would be able to distinguish if a gun had been incorrectly loaded. My personal understanding of the difference between a blank and a live round is that they look different at the tip. It's unclear to me if you could tell the difference without actually removing the round. This is compounded if the weapon is historical.
3) Baldwin was working on this film in two capacities: as an actor and as a producer. Many of us (going back to point #1) believe that the safety surrounding props is a responsibility that falls on the people who prepare and provide those props, not on the actor. I mean, the assistant director who handed Baldwin the gun didn't check it either, apparently. But if Baldwin as a producer was aware of safety issues and went into the scene knowing that there had been misfires OR if he was one of the voices urging a faster shooting schedule at the expense of proper safety procedures and a qualified crew, then he has responsibility for creating an unsafe working environment.
2) It is unclear to many of us the type of safety training received by the actors and whether or not it would be appropriate for an actor to open a prepped weapon OR if an actor would be able to distinguish if a gun had been incorrectly loaded. My personal understanding of the difference between a blank and a live round is that they look different at the tip. It's unclear to me if you could tell the difference without actually removing the round. This is compounded if the weapon is historical.
3) Baldwin was working on this film in two capacities: as an actor and as a producer. Many of us (going back to point #1) believe that the safety surrounding props is a responsibility that falls on the people who prepare and provide those props, not on the actor. I mean, the assistant director who handed Baldwin the gun didn't check it either, apparently. But if Baldwin as a producer was aware of safety issues and went into the scene knowing that there had been misfires OR if he was one of the voices urging a faster shooting schedule at the expense of proper safety procedures and a qualified crew, then he has responsibility for creating an unsafe working environment.
I feel that there has been more emphasis on him not following "the rules" (and I again question how those rules apply in the very special context of a film set) than on the gross negligence of the prop person.
I'm also just not a fan of auditing focus or attention levels since it can fall into whataboutism pretty easily, and there's almost always a worse offense we could be talking about.
I honestly do not believe that Baldwin (the actor) bears responsibility here.
I go back to my lug nuts argument. I know someone who got her tires rotated and the place didn't tighten them correctly. While she was on the interstate several of the lug nuts came off. Is that on her or is that on the mechanic? (It only takes 3 minutes with a tire iron to see if they are on properly).