[BenLurkin]

I have a dumb question: Why were there any live rounds on a movie set?

[Safrguns]

lol

[Karma_Sherab]

I have a dumb question: Why were there any live rounds on a movie set?

Yep....you'd think that would be the FIRST question asked

[BansheeBill]

From reading most of the coverage it appears some of the crew went off set to try a little target practice with the old single action Colts using live ammunition. If this is true the armorer may not have inspected the guns upon their return to the set to see if they were unloaded or if there were any obstructions in the barrels.
This is all conjecture on my part.
Nonetheless, there should have been someone on the set in charge of making sure there were no live rounds on the set and would have forbidden the off set target practice.

[JayNorth]

I have a dumb question: Why were there any live rounds on a movie set?

I have another "dumb question": Considering that the gun is on set presumably for filming, I have to assume that neither of those shot are actors in the scene being filmed. One is a cinematographer and the other is a director. So why would anyone fire the weapon toward those two individuals? Horseplay? If the shooter thought the gun was empty, then it seems like an extremely stupid stunt. You NEVER point a gun at someone and pull the trigger. If you thought it was loaded with blanks, why in the world would you point it at someone not in the scene, without cameras rolling, and shoot? Assuming they didn't get hurt, you've wasted a blank that will be needed for filming, typically of multiple takes. And there's every reason to believe that they could be hurt by blanks, especially if the victims are close in proximity to the shooter, as Jon Hexum proved back in 1984.

[Deo volente]

I have a dumb question: Why were there any live rounds on a movie set?

Not a dumb question at all. It's THE question. I have a feeling though that this investigation will not go very far. Baldwin is a liberal icon to the media because he hates Trump and conservatives. He'll get a pass and some lower level flunky in the chain of custody of the gun will get a hefty fine, and that will be the end of it.

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

That's the critical question -- why were there live rounds present at all?

There might be a reason if you wanted to show something being hit by an actual round, and presumably that would happen at a range specifically set up of for that, etc.. If this movie had something like that, then I suppose it is theoretically possible for a round to end up in the wrong place.

But if there wasn't any of that, then the only answer is that someone brought some live ammo onto the set deliberately, and without authorization. That makes me suspect something dicey with the union guys who were fired from the site 6 hours before the accident.

[lastchance]

I have the same question. That being asked I still believe all guns should be treated as if they have live ammo in them and handled as such. Until they have been checked to make sure they are safe to fire.

[pfflier]

Why were there any live rounds on a movie set?

Precisely. And only an idiot would mistake a live round for a blank.

This whole flurry of articles is everybody doing a CYA before the lawsuits hit.

The bottom line is why did the weapon get pointed at anyone for any reason? IMO this will turn into a meme that firearms are so unsafe, even supposed safely controlled fake guns kill innocent people therefore all guns should be banned.

Baldwin will do the PSA himself as part of a negligent homicide plea deal.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I remember seeing an old photo of Edward G. Robinson in some movie leaning against a wall. A trained marksman was going to fire some live rounds into that wall for the special effect.

But that was in the 1930s.

[Pollster1]

I have a dumb question: Why were there any live rounds on a movie set?

It's a very good question, and there are no good answers. If they needed real ammo for other filming, or wanted it for playing around during breaks, there should have been a specific and formal procedure for keeping live ammo away from the set except during filming for specific scenes that required live ammo.

I would guess that a lot of people on FR have the same routine that I have for cleaning firearms. I unload my firearms, move to a different room where there is no ammo ever, check that my firearms are unloaded, and then clean them. Long ago, my wife asked me to unload and clean in the same room so that I wouldn't have "gun stuff" in two rooms. It's one of the rare times I said "no" to her and wasn't even willing to discuss a compromise.