[fhayek]

It is my view (a view that almost no one that I talk to agrees with), that as the pointer and the puller of the trigger, Alec Baldwin has all the same responsibilities that any handler of a firearm has. He should treat it as a loaded weapon, he should be familiar with the weapon and be able to check if it has live ammunition or not, he should know what is in his range of fire and know what is in the background. Being an actor does not absolve you of gun safety. This was a real gun. If Baldwin did not know what he was doing - he should NOT be doing it. Relying on others is just half the equation.

The guy who pulls the trigger has the greatest responsibility as far as safety goes. And filming a movie does not lower that responsibility, in my opinion. It increases it. Filming a movie 'legitimizes' playing with guns. Safe handling should be at held to an even HIGHER standard.

[marcusmaximus]

From the lawsuit:

“Defendant Baldwin owed a duty to Plaintiff and other crew members and actors on the Rust set to handle the Colt Revolver provided to him by Defendant Hallas with reasonable care and diligence for the safety of Rust’s cast and crew. The duty called for Defendant Baldwin to double-check the Colt Revolver with Defendant Halls upon it being handed to him to ensure it did not contain live ammunition. This duty further called for him to handle the Colt Revolver as if it was loaded and to refrain from pointing it at anyone.”

“Defendant Baldwin breached his duty to Plaintiff when he failed to verify that the Colt Revolver was “cold” upon receiving it from Defendant Halls. Defendant Baldwin further breached this duty when he pointed the Colt Revolver at Ms. Hutchins, Mr. Souza, and Plaintiff while rehearsing his role in the subject scene and pulled the trigger of the Colt Revolver, a real gun, and shot Ms. Hutchins and Mr. Souza.”

https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/rust-lawsuit.pdf