Do you know how to load and unload a single action Colt revolver. Do you know the difference in a blank cartridge, a wadcutter hard load, and a round nose bullet cartridge? Bottom line to me. You ain’t important enough at any level to take a loaded firearm on faith. You own the responsibility to check it and be safe operating it.
I don’t dispute at all that Baldwin is an idiot and is responsible for his actions. Did he have a safe direction to “fire” in the scene? Even a blank can be dangerous. He probably didn’t even care or think of it.
Whoever loaded this gun with a real bullet is a moron and a murderer, too, though. I don’t expect that it was Baldwin, and that means there is a murderer running around loose. Baldwin’s stupidity isn’t an excuse for him to go free.
I know the difference between a blank cartridge a bullet cartridge (round lead, FMJ, hollow point, etc). What is a "wadcutter hard load"?
Also, seems no one is sure if this 1850's single action revolver was a "cap and ball" pistol which would complicate things for Baldwin to check. Movies often use those with black powder to get the big smoke effect when firing, so I've read.
Still with what the crew has stated about previous "discharges", Baldwin should have been leary of the weapon handed to him. As the principle writer, power producer, and lead actor, it was his movie. There is no excuse for no investigation of the 2 discharges by his stunt double, if that's true.
Plus, whoever hired that 24 yrs girl as armorer was part of the problem. Supposedly, she placed 3 pistols on a cart and lost chain-of-custody. By credible sources, the assistant director picked up one of those 3 and handed it to Baldwin.