This decision does not absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled
And then we get this,
“Every time an actor is doing a scene, driving a car, handling a firearm ... the mere fact that if there’s a serious injury, he or she could be criminally charged, it would have changed the industry,” Lovell said. “The second you start requiring an actor or actress to have to make sure whatever they’re using is safe, you’re putting it in the hands of a nonexpert and you’re making them do other things that he or she wasn’t hired to do.”
This is nonsense. If you handle a gun, you're responsible for safe handling. If you're not competent for safe-handling, don't handle it (e.g., if you're not qualified to drive a car, don't take the wheel for a driving scene). This is a special pleading that shifts all responsibility to armorers.
Mr. Baldwin did not inspect the weapon. It is a very simple thing to clear a weapon. He outsourced his responsibility entirely to others (including himself as producer). He broke fundamental safety rules in pointing the weapon at a person. If Mr. Baldwin had abided by the basic rules of gun safety required of any person (actor or not) who handles a gun, Hutchins would be alive. Full stop.
Colt Single Action is NOT a machine gun. It is not even like a striker-fired semi-automatic pistol. Two operations have to be completed to make it fire. You can pull the trigger all day on a Colt Single Action revolver and it won't go "boom." And this is true even if it has been modified (note the article fails to document alleged modifications). This is why you can spin an old west six-shooter like Johnny Ringo without danger of a negligent discharge. 1. The hammer must first be cocked back with the thumb. 2. The trigger must be pulled.
There is no exculpating "misfire" here. If you pull back the hammer and point a gun at a person, that's on you.
If Mr. Baldwin had been handled an early production Sig 320 and it went bang when he dropped the thing, then we could call this an innocent misfire. What happened is no where in the neighborhood of such an event. He picked up a gun. He did not clear the gun. He did not handle the gun safely. At a minimum, he had to draw back the hammer manually (i.e., the laws of physics and the mechanics of an SAA revolver are what they are) and point it another human being for this tragedy to have happened.
If any of us had behaved similarly, we would face trial.
Closed Thread
