No One Wants To Take Responsibility For Deadliest Mistakes In ?Rust? Shooting

National Reporter, HuffPostThe first time armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed laid out the rules of firearm safety to the cast and crew of the “Rust” film set, she hammered home a key point. If it’s pointing in that direction, don’t stand in front of it.” A few days later, on Oct. 21, director of photography Halyna Hutchins and director Joel Souza stood in front of actor Alec Baldwin as he pointed a .45 Colt revolver at them and asked if he should cock the hammer. And they let Baldwin point a gun directly at two people without an armorer present to oversee his actions.The investigation leaves no doubt that the revolver Baldwin held contained at least one live cartridge. If asked to point and shoot directly at a living target, consult with the property master or armorer for the prescribed safety procedures.”Baldwin, who has handled guns in films for decades and has received shooting instruction, showed detailed understanding in police interviews of how guns work, the different types of dummy rounds and blanks used on film sets, along with the basics of safe handling. They bring you what’s called a ‘cold gun.’ They always hand you a cold gun with nothing to rehearse.” In fact, the gun Baldwin held contained what the armorer told police she thought were six “dummy” rounds ― ammunition that contains no primer, making it incapable of exploding and firing a projectile. Two armorers said that they routinely fire every dummy round loaded into a revolver into the ground in the presence of the actor who will hold it, the assistant director or both to prove that the gun’s rounds are harmless. But after handing off the revolver to assistant director David Halls, the man who later handed it to Baldwin, calling it a “cold gun,” Gutierrez-Reed walked out of the chapel where the crew was filming and was outside when the shot rang out.Several armorers said they would sooner walk off a set than let a gun in their charge out of their sight.