Yes, obviously the round that was fired was live. But was the intent to load dummy rounds, or was the intent to load blanks?
Each has a different safety and handling procedure.
After it was fired, Halls picked up the gun from a pew in the church set and took it to the armorer. Gutierrez Reed was told to open the gun so he could see what was inside. Halls said there were five rounds in the gun, at least four of which had"dummy" casings, as indicated by a hole on the side. There was one without the hole. He advised this round did not have the "cap" on it and was just the casing. David advised the incident was not a deliberate act, according to the affidavit.
Gutierrez Reed, meanwhile, said she checked the "dummies" and ensured they were not "hot rounds" prior to the cast and crew breaking for lunch.
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/alec-baldwin-assistant-director-rust-safety-lapse
So, the intent was to use dummy rounds, not blanks. Dummy rounds are what is used when the gun is pointed at the camera. If blanks are used, there are specific protocols - not pointing at people within a certain distance, shields around crew and equipment.
Those are not required when dummy rounds are used.