Many people have wondered how Alec Baldwin got his hands on a loaded gun and now we have the answer to that. Cast members allegedly used the gun to take target practice with live ammunition. That means there is a lot of blame to go around. The crew should not have used the gun for target practicing, but if they did, it was up to them to make sure all live ammunition was out of the gun.
The firearms expert for the movie should have checked the gun before it was given to Baldwin and finally, Baldwin violated the first rule of gun handling and that is to never aim it at anything you don’t want to destroy.
Anybody who has ever handled a gun knows that.
Or at least they should know that. You handle every gun as if it were loaded even when you don’t think it is.
Hollywood firearms expert Bryan Carpenter, who specializes in gun safety and training for the movies says that Baldwin violated the first rule anyone who receives training learns and that is you never point a gun at anyone you do not intend to kill.
That is just common sense, which explains why Baldwin did not know that.
Not only did Baldwin break rule number one, but the crew is said to have used the gun for target practice. This is a low-budget movie and without a doubt, the movie may never get made now because there is enough negligence for a dozen lawsuits.
Gun handlers for the movies are paid $300 dollars a day and therefore, they have no excuse for not checking a gun before it is used in a scene.
TMZ reported:
Multiple sources directly connected to the “Rust” production tell TMZ … the same gun Alec Baldwin accidentally fired — hitting the DP and director — was being used by crews members off set as well, for what we’re told amounted to target practice.
We’re told this off-the-clock shooting — which was allegedly happening away from the movie lot — was being done with real bullets … which is how some who worked on the film believe a live round found its way in one of the chambers that day.