Let’s be very clear about the curious case of actor Alec Baldwin — he absolutely, 100 percent, without a doubt, shot and killed a woman. Now, whether it was an accident or on purpose, manslaughter or murder, will be debated until someone can get inside Baldwin’s head and truly know what happened and why.
All that said, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) labor union came out on Thursday to defend Baldwin following his indictment “last week for involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins” back in 2021, according to Variety.
“An actor’s job is not to be a firearms or weapons expert. Performers train to perform, and they are not required or expected to be experts on guns or experienced in their use. The industry assigns that responsibility to qualified professionals who oversee their use and handling in every aspect.”
While SAG-AFTRA is correct in stating that actors don’t need to be experts in the usage of firearms, the Safety Tips for Use of Firearms by the over 100-year-old Actors’ Equity Association does list the following as four of its tips:
“Treat all guns as if they are loaded and deadly.”
“Never point a firearm at anyone including yourself. Always cheat the shot by aiming to the right or left of the target character. If asked to point and shoot directly at a living target, consult with the property master or armorer for the prescribed safety procedures.”
“Check the firearm every time you take possession of it. Before each use, make sure the gun has been test-fired off state and then ask to test fire it yourself. Watch the prop master check the cylinders and barrel to be sure no foreign object or dummy bullet has become lodged inside.”
“Blanks are extremely dangerous. Even though they do not fire bullets out of the gun barrel, they still have a powerful blast that can maim or kill.”
Baldwin’s set pistol unfortunately had at least one real bullet in it, enough to kill Hutchins. Did the scene call for pointing the firearm directly at Hutchins? Baldwin, being a producer on the project, could’ve called for directly aiming the weapon at Hutchins. If so, why?
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Variety attempted to give the benefit of the doubt to Baldwin in the way they phrased how the incident occurred.
“Baldwin was holding a gun during preparation for a scene when it fired, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.”
Notice how Variety said “it fired” instead of Baldwin fired. Apparently, guns can just go off on their own without pulling the trigger, or so Variety would have the naive people that typically read their content believe.
The outlet also noted what Baldwin told ABC News in an interview following the incident.
“I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger,” Baldwin said. “That was the training I had.”
Well, Baldwin — a veteran of many movies that used firearms — must not have been listening to the training, because unless the bullet had some kind of heat-seeking aspect it, him pointing the gun at Hutchins and pulling the trigger is exactly what happened.
Whether it was an accident or not, we may never know. But, leave to a union to excuse the, at least, negligent behavior of one its own in the face of controversy.
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