Atlanta is at it again…
Atlanta City Council wants to fine people who do not safely store their guns. On Monday, full council passed a resolution that urges the state to give local governments the authority to issue penalties.
The resolution comes as Atlanta Police Department reported thousands of stolen guns connected to crimes across the city.
Full article, HERE.
Atlanta is notorious for passing crap preemptions that get slapped down in court, for good reason. But they keep trying…
Sooner or later, they are going to slip one through.
I’ve had a couple of emails and questions about why I haven’t commented on the Baldwin imbroglio. I will wait until 72 hours passes and some of the dust has settled. I will leave you with this to ponder…
1. Always treat every gun as if it were loaded.
It might be, even if you think it isn’t.
2. Always point the muzzle in a safe direction.
Keep it pointed in a safe direction at all times.
3. Always keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
This is the best way to prevent an accidental discharge.
4. Always be sure of your target and beyond.
Make sure you have an adequate backstop
None of which apply on a movie set. Quite the opposite, in fact. For the same reasons why the rules don’t apply to simunition training or airsoft fields.
It is up to the prop master to ensure there are no live rounds anywhere near the set. It is up to the weapons master to ensure that only fake guns or blanks are on the set, and to keep the real guns away from the moronic actors until the scene calls for them.
I disagree completely. While I understand the need to point guns at other actors in movies – every actor is responsible to know what’s in that gun when it’s handed to him.
The law doesn’t make allowances for propmasters or anyone else, especially when it only takes a moment to examine the gun and determine if it’s loaded or not.
What John VS said. If I go to your house and you hand me an ‘unloaded’ firearm and I point it at you and pull the trigger and you get shot and die, I am at least on the hook for negligent homicide. (And what do you bet that the local prosecutor will go through my social media, my blog comments, interview my neighbors, look up every employer I’ve had, in order to dig up dirt on me so they can bump up the charges. But Alec dancing-monkey Baldwin won’t get his long history of violence towards women considered, nor his long history of threatening social media and emails.)
Being a paid dancing-monkey doesn’t abrogate one’s responsibility for one’s actions.
I personally dislike “always” and “never”, particularly in the context of legal liability, whether civil or criminal.
Here, facts are still being revealed, and there will be more information available later.
What “facts” I have gathered so far are that 1. the gun(s) that Baldwin fired (there were three of them) was a cap and ball revolver. 2. That the Asst Director took the gun the armored handed him, called “cold gun” (that the gun had neither live nor blank ammo in it), probably relying on a statement by the armorer, and relying on her expertise, and handed the gun to Baldwin. 3. That Baldwin was apparently told, as a part of the scene being rehearsed, to point the gun at / near the camera and pull the trigger. 4. That Baldwin did so. 5. That the cinematographer and the director were behind the camera. 6. That there was powder and some kind of projectile in the gun. 7. That there was likely a percussion cap on the nipple. This would be contrary to the call of “cold gun”. (I have heard, but never experienced, that a black powder firearm can be fired without a percussion cap). 8. That the gun then fired, killing the cinematographer and wounding the director. 9. That “prop guns” are guns or gun-like objects used in performances. 10. That according to movie industry safety standards, the armored is responsible for all guns, blanks, powder, caps, balls, etc onbthe set. 11. That many of the union / professional support staff walked off the production earlier that day. 12. That there had been three incidents of unintentional discharge of blank shots on the set prior to Baldwin shooting the cinematographer and the director.
13. That it has been _alleged_ that members of the movie crew had been shooting with the prop guns during off hours, and may have been using ball, rather than blank shots. 14. That after firing the killing shot, Baldwin yelled “why was I given a hot gun?”
Analysis (mine).
1. That the movie production (likely seperately incorporated), and Baldwin, as co-producer, and their insurer, will be held civilly liable for the death and injury.
2. That a movie is a fantasy of real life, and that things are done in movies that would be insane in real life. War / action movies, crime, Westerns, etc.
3. That as actors are hired to act as the director tell them to do, and for all that they testify to Congress about, most actors are only expert in pretending to know things.
4. That this is the reason that movies using guns have a professional armorer, because the actors can not be trusted to tie their own shoes.
5. That Jeff Coopers four rules apply to real people using real guns and real bullets. Movies are not real. Real world safety is still necessary, but that responsibility is delegated to the safety officer, the stunt coordinator, and the armorer.
6. That it is likely that Baldwin will not be found criminally liable for the shooting, even though criminal intent is not required in negligent homicide, because he probably lacks the expertise to determine whether a cap and ball revolver is loaded, and so, relied on the expertise of the armored, who (probably) selected the gun and gave it to the Asst Director (who also likely lacked the expertise to determine whether it was loaded or not).
7. That Baldwins’ civil liability will be up to a jury to decide. He will be sued.
That’s my take so far.
John in Indy
Actors are, generally speaking, no wiser than three year olds. They cannot be trusted with anything, mostly including acting.
Those rules sound familiar, somehow…
Leftists don’t care about laws. The will to power is everything. Words on paper are nothing (unless they are to their advantage). Power is force. Force is violence.
TL;DR: Laws are for suckers and peasants.
I got my ears boxed so many times when I was growing up that I treat my grandkids plastic squirt guns like they are deadly . Grew up shooting with Dad and his friends on a FOP range and they have no tolerance for stupid . I do have to admit though I get great pleasure from Baldwins humiliation . I bet he peed himself .
5 – Don’t make movies with Alec Baldwin!
It’s too bad he won’t go to jail for this. The man has a history of violence, so his claiming ‘it was an accident’ is a bit hard to believe for me.
“I will wait until 72 hours passes and some of the dust has settled.”
Hear, hear. As much as I dislike Alec Baldwin, he deserves the same benefit of the doubt as the rest of us. Until all the facts come out, I refuse to judge what he might or might not have done.
And never forget, you cannot trust ANYTHING coming from the media, especially if it originates from some unnamed “Union Spokesman”.
Oh? He deserves the same benefit of the doubt that he has given everyone else. Which is none. He’s been pretty much on the front of every big self-defense action calling the self-defender everything from scum to murderer to retarded.
Even if it was a total accident, his actions towards people in the past point to a huge history of extreme violence towards women. And look at who got shot, women. While he was ‘joking around.’ Errr, we’ve had less info come out within 4 hours of the shooting of Saint George of Fentanyl than with this case, and Dancing-Monkey-Boy Baldwin was right at the forefront of wanting all cops in the city be hung from lampposts.
So, no. No I will not give the leftist revolutionary commie socialist elitist scum the benefit of the doubt.
And he’s killed more people using guns than I have. He’s also physically abused more women, committed more criminal acts while drunk or stoned, committed more sexual assaults than I have. Yet if I did this, I’d be under the local jail.
Alec Baldwin is an asshole and I don’t like him either. But until we find out exactly what happened, yes. Yes he does. And it’s for the simple reason that I’m ever in a similar situation, I want to enjoy the benefit of the doubt for myself.
But in the same situation Baldwin and his ilk will be the first to condemn you in social media, the first to pay “Peaceful Protestors” to riot, loot and burn because of your actions.
I am tired of our side always being the ‘adult’ and holding back.
It’s time, past time, to play their games. If I had money, I’d be funding a women’s protest against the serial abuser Alec Baldwin.
Sorry, but not sorry. His treatment of all of the self-defense shootings and the defenders show he assumes the shooter is guilty the minute they pick up the gun.
Like Kyle Rittenhouse. Who showed excellent muzzle control and excellent fire control but still Alec Baldwin excoriated him in AB’s social media. If only Alec Baldwin had the same gun control that Kyle has, we’d not be here debating this.
If a normal serial abuser of women was frucking around and accidentally shot and killed a woman, he’d be handcuffed, tossed in the local jail, mistreated by cops and guards and especially other inmates.
But since it’s Dancing-Monkey Baldwin, he should be treated differently? He shouldn’t have gone to jail, he shouldn’t have his life and all his comments and all his prior actions used against him from the very beginning?
He (Dancing-Monkey Baldwin) supports red-flag laws. He supports Gun Abolishment. He supports using the power of a fully-activated justice system against any little person who believes they have the right of self-expression and self-defense.
So. No. He doesn’t get any slack from me. Did he cut the cops who shot St. George of Fentayl? Did he cut the cops who engaged in a shootout with Breonna Taylor and her boyfriend? Did he cut the shooters of Armaud Aubrey (who was NOT jogging in his neighborhood? What about George Zimmerman?
All who were thrashed by Alec Dancing-Monkey Baldwin.
++
Sauce, goose, gander.
Any weapon, any tactic, any stratagem my enemy uses against me is meet and fit for me to use against him.
Roy, I despise, detest, and totally DISTRUST the “media”.
All- Thanks for the comments. And yes, the stories keep changing…
Yes, the 24 hour rule for opining looks like it might need an extra few days.
Several years ago I noticed that I shift my grip when I thumb-cock a revolver (broad palm, short fingers). My brother and I were out target shooting with his .357 Smith, a weapon on which a previous owner had done a trigger job. The slightest pressure on the trigger dropped the hammer in single-action fire. We were standing side-by-side on the firing line, taking turns with a single cartridge in the cylinder.
The drill was to develop a smooth, first-round-from-single-action draw and fire muscle memory. Weapon at your side, raise to firing position in a smooth motion, clicking back the hammer during the transition. I kept pulling my shot to the left.
We were down to our last cartridge and it was my turn. I raised the weapon, cocking it in transition, and then carefully looked through the sights to see how I was lined up. I de-cocked the pistol while still pointed at the target, returned to the ready position, and repeated the motion, each time seeing how I was lined up.
After I had done this several times, Joe asked what the fool I was doing with all this “clickety-click, look, let-off” stuff. I dropped the pistol to my side and started to explain that every time I thumb-cocked the pistol I pulled myself off target, So I was trying to see what I was doing with the way I was plac…Ka-BOOM!
We both froze, staring at each other to see who would start screaming first, each convinced that the other had just lost a toe. Then we both looked down to see if the other one was bleeding. The slug went into the ground between our feet, less than six inches either way from or respective little piggies.
And that, boys and girls, is how I discovered that it never pays to let yourself get distracted with a loaded weapon in your hand.
“it never pays to let yourself get distracted”
Or to almost cock the shotgun’s hammer with cold-numbed fingers. It’ll go boom when you relax your thumb.
Uchuck- Thank you for your honest description of what happened to you. There are those who HAVE had an ND, and those who will have one. No one is immune… sigh Thankfully, much like my case, no one was hurt.
Both stories, the one about Atlanta and one about the Baldwin shooting, have a common theme: you are responsible for what happens with a firearm.
The Atlanta city council made their vote because the number of firearms stolen from cars went up to 2000 this year compared to 1800 last year. It’s true that some of these Firearms then show up at a crime scene. So, the city Council wants firearm owners to make sure that they’re not leaving a gun in a car where it can be stolen. I really don’t have any idea how they plan to implement a fine on people who don’t safely store guns, but they do have a point: if you own a firearm, you are responsible for that firearm at all times.
The Baldwin shooting has a similar message. Whether you are told that a firearm is safe or not, you have a responsibility to verify the condition of the gun yourself; you DON’T take someone’s word for it.
This isn’t a particularly convenient rule, but convenience isn’t the issue here. There are an awful lot of people involved in filming the Baldwin movie who are going to find astounding amounts of inconvenience in their lives, because safety rules weren’t followed. And a young woman is dead, and there is no fix for that.
I imagine that the actor Steven Baldwin is praying for the salvation of his idiot brother Alec Baldwin who accidentally killed another human.
I join Steve Baldwin in his prayers for his brother.
Father, Alec Baldwin is in a crisis. Please help him turn to you, repent and convert.
Pontius Pilate repented.
He and his wife are revered as saints in some sects of Christianity. I guess if he can do it, so can Alec.
Changing stories is something that might be predicted. Lot of people in the vicinity of this would be in the habit of having PR spin things. Probably relatively few are getting competent instruction in shutting up, and refraining from trying to spin the thing.
It sounds like they were trying to pass blame in the call to 911. Sigh.
Concur Pat, but actors are NOT responsible for checking the guns. Most have no idea how to do that. THAT is the job of the armorer, who ‘should’ be the only one other than the actor to handle a gun on a set.
Ed- Agreed.
Bob- Yep.
When the firearm is in my custody, deem it safely stored.
This gets to the border between the”Law” & “Common Sense”. Clearly the armorer screwed up, however, even a dim actor should have a clue about the tools they are using. Without messing with the mechanism, any actor should be able to visually “inspect” a revolver that was presented as “cold” (i.e. empty, unloaded) and know that “brass” (cartridge, cap) means that something is wrong. Even after that, except for a scripted, choreographed action, never point a firearm at anyone and don’t pull the trigger. If the actor has to practice some move or skill, they should go off by themselves, perhaps with a “coach”, so as not to endanger others. Baldwin handled his weapon, cocked it and pulled the trigger, while pointed at a staff member. Oops.
The live round (I assume cartridge) was probly the remains of special training given to some actor who was gun-shy or who looked foolish and was given some live-fire experience. The armorer obviously didn’t clear and check the firearm before allowing it to be used on set. Now, who, on set, would have had the authority and arrogance to do somthing as foolish as that? My guess is that it was the same person who foolishly pointed that firearm at another and then pulled the trigger. But that is a guess on my part.
Too many of you are being foolish in your demand that ALL actors be experts on all types of guns. Not everyone is the equivalent of Tom Selleck in Hollywood. Is the gun in question a cartridge revolver, or cap & ball? I suspect that some of you would have problems determining the condition of a c&b gun [trick question 🙂 ]
The fact is, that there is someone required to be on the set to handle weapons. They do NOT want the actor to be fiddling with it at any time. Not racking the slide, or spinning the cylinder. Nothing that has not been decided ahead of time per the script. Also, as far as I know, there are to be no intermediaries between the armorer and the actor when it comes time for the handoff, specifically to avoid the possibility of this sort of problem being introduced by a third party, whether accidentally or intentionally. That armorer is toast, legally.
Due to the design of most revolvers, the barrel is fixed, and cannot be swapped for a safe, restricted bore for blanks, like most autos can be. This makes them inherently less safe for hollywood use. Add in that it has to appear to be loaded when facing the camera, and you can create a deadly situation by accident, or hide an evil intention. The armorer is supposed to keep that from happening.
You don’t have to be an expert to follow the four rules.