Comments on: Alec Baldwin and the prop gun

By: Richard Aubrey

Richard Aubrey — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 01:15:54 +0000

Sonny.
Used those things a lot. But they wouldn’t do for movies. So I wonder if a semi or full auto modified internally for movies could ever be repaired for real use.

By: sonny wayz

sonny wayz — Sun, 24 Oct 2021 15:26:18 +0000

@Richard Aubrey

“Semi auto and full auto weapons may have a barrel restriction affixed inside to provide sufficient back pressure from blanks and if may come loose.”

Military use of blanks include a ‘Blank Firing Adapter’, to maintain enough pressure to cycle the action. Also painted a bright color in order to be visible.

Semi/full auto blanks are also different. In order to feed from the magazine, the leading edge needs to be bullet shaped. So, a longer brass cartridge casing, carefully crimped down to the right profile.

By: Richard Aubrey

Richard Aubrey — Sat, 23 Oct 2021 21:42:41 +0000

Neo. True. You mentioned Hexum. But there’s a possibility–not necessarily with the Baldwin case–of some detritus left in the barrel which would be propelled by a legitimate blank and injure at a couple of yards, or maybe a dozen.
I don’t know what armorers do on set or preparing, but it sounds confusing. A cleaning rod…. Lot of stuff going on and to keep track of.
Semi auto and full auto weapons may have a barrel restriction affixed inside to provide sufficient back pressure from blanks and if may come loose.

By: TexasDude

TexasDude — Sat, 23 Oct 2021 21:10:57 +0000

Neo, yes.

By: neo

neo — Sat, 23 Oct 2021 20:24:55 +0000

TexasDude:

Am I correct, though, in my understanding (from readings) that blanks can only kill at quite close range?

By: TexasDude

TexasDude — Sat, 23 Oct 2021 19:16:05 +0000

Oh, blank ammo can kill. It’s the force of the gun powder explosion pushing air that would do it, not the projectile, which would be absent.

It’s truly basic physics. Sir Isaac Newton, etc. Yeah, cops aren’t troglodytes.

By: TexasDude

TexasDude — Sat, 23 Oct 2021 19:05:24 +0000

I work with guns for a living, 17 year veteran cop. I do not know the standards of gun safety on a movie set, but they should at least adhere to the basics.

I stated this on Mark Wuack’s blog, Meaning in History, … paraphrasing and adding a lot …

Baldwin does have some responsibility, meaning culpability. Baldwin appears from accounts to have been handed a firearm that was portrayed to him as safe and trusted that. Yet, it’s on him to make sure it was safe. That’s a part of basic gun safety. Even if you are handed a semi-auto handgun with it’s slide locked back with no magazine, it’s better to either visually inspect or to cycle the slide back and forth. Basics.

A revolver is easier since you can see the rounds save for one.

My guess is that actors only rely on whatever experts on set they have and mostly do not do basic gun safety checks and probably could not identify a safe round versus a live round.

In a court with jurors, this may mean Baldwin will not be civilly or criminally convicted of anything, but in reality he istill had a duty to make sure it was safe.

Due to problems that have been reported on this set about gun safety, it appears that what could be called an institutional lack of gun safety standards was prevalent on this set.

Baldwin is a hot head. Granted, with the poparrazi and general lack of privacy granted to famous people, I understand some of his reactions. However, he should be rightly hoisted on his own petard due to his hostile opinions on this matter. It’s most interesting that, though, he has only voiced opinions on such things that advanced his political beliefs and is silent on incidences that did not.

By: Eva Marie

Eva Marie — Sat, 23 Oct 2021 18:04:37 +0000

This was a big story in AZ in 1973. Burt Reynolds, Sarah Miles, and a questionable death.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.azcentral.com/amp/1215483002

By: Geoffrey Britain

Geoffrey Britain — Sat, 23 Oct 2021 17:14:29 +0000

PA+Cat,

Thank you for that link to an outstanding examination of the legal possibilities in this event. I suspect Alec Baldwin is in real trouble. That is, if a leftist DA and Judge is not involved. If so, it will probably be ruled accidental. Just as Halle Berry’s hit and run resulted in no consequence for her criminality.

By: PA+Cat

PA+Cat — Sat, 23 Oct 2021 16:34:48 +0000

Andrew Branca over at the Legal Insurrection blog posted a lawyer’s analysis of the Baldwin shooting: “To be clear, our goal here is not necessarily to arrive at a definitive legal answer—I’m not sure we really know enough facts with enough certainty to do that. But if we can’t immediately arrive at the right legal answer, at the very least we can understand how to ask the right legal question—and that’s what we’ll do right here, right now.”

https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/10/legal-analysis-does-alec-baldwin-have-criminal-exposure-after-shooting-woman-dead-in-apparent-mistake/