The aftermath of the shooting on the set of Alec Baldwin’s production of ‘Rust’ has seen a wide range of reactions, some of them predictable, some not so much. We’ve seen everything from calls to ban all guns from film production sets to conspiracy theories claiming someone intentionally inserted a live round in the revolver Baldwin fired killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
So while it probably shouldn’t surprise us that one of the more idiotic responses to all of this has come from Baldwin himself, somehow he never fails to disappoint.
As Insider is reporting, Baldwin thinks he has the solution for ensuring movie set safety . . .
“Every film/TV set that uses guns, fake or otherwise, should have a police officer on set, hired by the production, to specifically monitor weapons safety,” Baldwin said in a tweet.
That idea would be downright funny if it weren’t so jaw-droppingly stupid.
The film industry has a well-established system of professionals and processes designed to make using guns on sets — both fully-functioning firearms and non-functioning prop guns — realistic and safe. Experienced, professional armorers have ensured the safety of thousands of productions for decades on movie sets. That’s why you can count the number of serious accidents involving guns on movie sets on one hand.
The fix for what happened on the ‘Rust’ set is to hire experienced people to ensure that actors and crew are safe. Running a shoestring production that was reportedly plagued by a range of safety issues — including using prop guns for target practice with live ammunition — is a recipe for disaster.
As anyone who’s spent any time at a shooting range around police officers can tell you, the idea of posting cops on movie sets to “monitor weapons safety” is laughable. The average NRA certified range safety officer is vastly more skilled and experienced at ensuring a safe environment when firearms are present than 98% of cops on the street.
Maybe, as producer of the ill-fated production, Baldwin should have hired someone as armorer who’d had more experience doing the job. Maybe he shouldn’t have been running a shoestring production that saw half a dozen crew members quit over a variety of concerns, including on-set safety.
In the mean time, facing possible criminal charges and potentially huge civil liability, the situation has predictably devolved into a frenzy of finger-pointing and blame-shifting.
So take Baldwin’s throw-away suggestion of a cop on every set for what it is…a half-assed effort to show concern and propose a “solution” that only further exposes his ignorance about firearms and how to use them safely.
