Employers cut corners all the time to increase production or profit. They should be held accountable if their decision directly leads to someone’s death.
He had a hand in choosing the armorer. His employees were using the firearms on set for recreational shooting with live ammo. We don’t know if he knew that, but if he did then he’s responsible for not firing the armorer for a gross breach of safety. He was at least partially responsible for that and should face consequences for it.
And anyone who touches a gun should not just believe what someone says about it. That’s literally rule 1 of guns: they’re all loaded until proven otherwise by the person holding it. There’s many people whose friend handed them a gun to look at and promised it’s unloaded, only to ventilate said friend or an innocent bystander. Whoever has a gun is responsible for that gun, it’s a big responsibility but not a hard one. Guns are not mystical objects, it takes like half an hour to learn how basically every firearm made in the past 150 years works, and how to check if all of them are safe. You’re not flying a plane when you have a revolver in your hand. He was handed a gun, told it was safe, did nothing to verify that, and shot a woman because of it. If it happened to me and I killed my friend or wife, I’d already be in jail. But because it happened on a movie set, it’s suddenly a big question about who was responsible.
I have friends who own a lot of guns. I’ve held a lot of other people’s guns. As soon as it’s in your hands, it’s your responsibility. Doesn’t matter if we just got back from the FFL and it’s fresh out of the box. Doesn’t matter if there’s no bullets of that caliber anywhere on the property. Doesn’t fucking matter if someone you consider to be an expert hands you a weapon and tells you it’s clear. When a gun touches your hand, you are responsible for it and everything it can do. You take the 3 seconds it takes to clear it yourself and ask any questions that come up. If he had just looked at the gun and asked “why are their bullets in here” and “why don’t the bullets look like they’re props” then Halyna Hutchins would still be alive.
That’s basically what manslaughter is for. Times when someone dies unintentionally, but there’s proof that someone’s actions created that circumstance.
For context another manslaughter charge that stuck in film is the case of Sarah Jones who was run down by a train trying to rescue equipment off a tressle track that the company wasn’t properly cleared to work on. Three people took the hit in that case. Two out of three Executive Producers and the First Assistant Director (a position that serves as the on set safety veto) were charged and received prison sentences in that case.
It is also known that the Rust production had fielded massive concerns from crew regarding gun safety on set in the days before the accident when Baldwin’s stunt double fired two live rounds from a firearm that was not properly checked or cleared and called “cold” on handoff. He just didn’t hit anybody.
This production literally had a full dry run of the fatal incident with Baldwin’s stunt double. Everything from the handoff to the call of “cold gun” was duplicated on the day of the fatal event. That the Stunt double incident didn’t cause a full stop and inquiry with a massive change of protocols to the industry’s best practice Brandon Lee standard is utterly baffling. The whole situation really is a rare and particularly damning senario of extreme negligence on behalf of production and when the negligence pie gets that big it will surprise you who gets a slice.
Not with a manslaughter charge.
Yes with a manslaughter charge.
Employers cut corners all the time to increase production or profit. They should be held accountable if their decision directly leads to someone’s death.
He had a hand in choosing the armorer. His employees were using the firearms on set for recreational shooting with live ammo. We don’t know if he knew that, but if he did then he’s responsible for not firing the armorer for a gross breach of safety. He was at least partially responsible for that and should face consequences for it.
And anyone who touches a gun should not just believe what someone says about it. That’s literally rule 1 of guns: they’re all loaded until proven otherwise by the person holding it. There’s many people whose friend handed them a gun to look at and promised it’s unloaded, only to ventilate said friend or an innocent bystander. Whoever has a gun is responsible for that gun, it’s a big responsibility but not a hard one. Guns are not mystical objects, it takes like half an hour to learn how basically every firearm made in the past 150 years works, and how to check if all of them are safe. You’re not flying a plane when you have a revolver in your hand. He was handed a gun, told it was safe, did nothing to verify that, and shot a woman because of it. If it happened to me and I killed my friend or wife, I’d already be in jail. But because it happened on a movie set, it’s suddenly a big question about who was responsible.
I have friends who own a lot of guns. I’ve held a lot of other people’s guns. As soon as it’s in your hands, it’s your responsibility. Doesn’t matter if we just got back from the FFL and it’s fresh out of the box. Doesn’t matter if there’s no bullets of that caliber anywhere on the property. Doesn’t fucking matter if someone you consider to be an expert hands you a weapon and tells you it’s clear. When a gun touches your hand, you are responsible for it and everything it can do. You take the 3 seconds it takes to clear it yourself and ask any questions that come up. If he had just looked at the gun and asked “why are their bullets in here” and “why don’t the bullets look like they’re props” then Halyna Hutchins would still be alive.
Damn straight, well said
That’s basically what manslaughter is for. Times when someone dies unintentionally, but there’s proof that someone’s actions created that circumstance.
For context another manslaughter charge that stuck in film is the case of Sarah Jones who was run down by a train trying to rescue equipment off a tressle track that the company wasn’t properly cleared to work on. Three people took the hit in that case. Two out of three Executive Producers and the First Assistant Director (a position that serves as the on set safety veto) were charged and received prison sentences in that case.
It is also known that the Rust production had fielded massive concerns from crew regarding gun safety on set in the days before the accident when Baldwin’s stunt double fired two live rounds from a firearm that was not properly checked or cleared and called “cold” on handoff. He just didn’t hit anybody.
This production literally had a full dry run of the fatal incident with Baldwin’s stunt double. Everything from the handoff to the call of “cold gun” was duplicated on the day of the fatal event. That the Stunt double incident didn’t cause a full stop and inquiry with a massive change of protocols to the industry’s best practice Brandon Lee standard is utterly baffling. The whole situation really is a rare and particularly damning senario of extreme negligence on behalf of production and when the negligence pie gets that big it will surprise you who gets a slice.