# Alec Baldwin \[accidentally\] Kills Crew Member with Prop Gun {2021-10-21} **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** breaking-news\ **Created:** [October 22, 2021, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960 "2021-10-22T02:38:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/101 "2021-10-22T11:05:50Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Even with plastic/rubber guns you dont point them at others. I would like to introduce you to the concept of paintball. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/102 "2021-10-22T11:22:35Z")
I can’t imagine making any judgments or drawing any conclusions until full evidence and information comes out. Why would anyone? This is the internet, but it is also the Straight Dope. “Fighting Ignorance since 1973” is our motto. It’s devastating what happened and I think we should just wait for the police and investigators to figure out what happened and who is to blame. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/103 "2021-10-22T11:23:14Z")
That _would_ be a good TV episode. I do feel very sorry for the young lady who was killed. What a tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/104 "2021-10-22T11:30:24Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > First rule of handling firearms is that anything is loaded until you check it personally. It doesn’t matter if you just watched the person cycle and check the chamber before it is handed to you. You do it again as soon as it is in your hands. Generally speaking, an actor messing with a prop gun after it had been checked and cleared by the armorer - even to “check it” himself - would _increase_ the risk of mishap in this instance, not decrease it. And would make the actor liable. The armorer would literally be required to take and check the prop again afterward to make sure the actor hadn’t accidentally rendered it unsafe. The armorer’s job is to check and doublecheck to make sure the prop weapon is safe to use, and then to hand it to the actor whose job it is to point it and make it go bang while emoting appropriately. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/105 "2021-10-22T11:42:40Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > > [@madsircool](#): > > > > Even with plastic/rubber guns you dont point them at others. > > I would like to introduce you to the concept of paintball. Or a Super Soaker. Plus it’s harder to shoot your eye out with a Red Ryder Official BB Gun if you don’t point it at yourself. It can be done, it’s just more difficult. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > I can’t imagine making any judgments or drawing any conclusions until full evidence and information comes out. Why would anyone? > > This is the internet, but it is also the Straight Dope. “Fighting Ignorance since 1973” is our motto. > > It’s devastating what happened and I think we should just wait for the police and investigators to figure out what happened and who is to blame. I know, right? Some here are getting nuts and have no clue what happened. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/106 "2021-10-22T11:50:18Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I know, right? Some here are getting nuts and have no clue what happened. Back when Brandon Lee died, we learned that the actor was entirely innocent. I don’t even know what to say to the “no one should point a gun at anyone even in a movie” concept. Of course they do. Like, constantly. In the same shot, with both actors in the shot. All the time. Like, I can’t believe we’re pretending that hasn’t been happening for decades. ---
**Author:** ![QMatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/aeb1de/32.png) [@QMatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QMatic)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/107 "2021-10-22T12:01:04Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Very rarely is there a scene where you actually see both the shooter and the shootee in the same frame. How is this even relevant to this situation where the two casualties weren’t actors but part of the crew behind the camera? ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/108 "2021-10-22T12:21:43Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I can’t imagine making any judgments or drawing any conclusions until full evidence and information comes out. Why would anyone? To “own the libs” of course. This is about Alec Baldwin, more than anything else that happened. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/109 "2021-10-22T12:22:43Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > The weapon is _never_ supposed to be loaded during the rehearsal. Baldwin has been working with prop weapons for 40 years. This has always been the rule. If the armorer handed him a weapon for the rehearsal, Baldwin will have had no expectation that it should be loaded or unsafe in any way. If it was loaded, its discharge is 100% the responsibility of the armorer. Yeah I’d assume this is true for any actor, in pretty much any situation, they are _never_ meant to be given a weapon that even has _been used_ to fire real bullets (or even [squibs](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-04-02-ca-18323-story.html) given what happened to Brandon Lee). There is no situation I can imagine where any actor (let alone a big name like Alec Baldwin) would been given a real gun with real bullets (except maybe in some pre-production gun training), so no matter how much of a dick you think he is I don’t think he can bear any blame. All the usual rules about gun safety (the big one being don’t point it anything you don’t want killed) don’t apply when you are making a film about gunfighter. The armorer however better be lawyering up like nobodies business right now. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/110 "2021-10-22T12:37:00Z")
I don’t think anyone is unaware Alec Baldwin is an ass, or at least was as recently as a few years ago, but that is no reason to assume he is culpable for this at all. There have been a number of incidents like this in which the actor was not remotely at fault, and considering the vast majority of the onus is on the technical staff to make guns on set safe it seems at least decently likely Baldwin isn’t at fault here. If he was pointing the gun at someone when he wasn’t supposed to or fucking around with it, sure, but nothing close to that has been reported, kinda crazy to see people crucifying him. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/111 "2021-10-22T12:41:20Z")
Well, with Brian Laundrie’s skeletonized body now discovered, some people turn their attention to the next death about which they can spin out fantasies. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/112 "2021-10-22T12:41:20Z")
Not a gun person by any means, so I don’t know anything. So it was wadding that killed the person? How far away from the gun would wadding sill be going fast enough to be lethal? I’m guessing that it isn’t particularly aerodynamic and after 50’ or so it isn’t deadly but if someone has a better figure I’d like to know. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/113 "2021-10-22T12:42:24Z")
I haven’t seen any specifics reported yet. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/114 "2021-10-22T12:44:29Z")
We don’t yet know anything about the nature of the projectile. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/115 "2021-10-22T12:46:53Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Not a gun person by any means, so I don’t know anything. So it was wadding that killed the person? How far away from the gun would wadding sill be going fast enough to be lethal? I’m guessing that it isn’t particularly aerodynamic and after 50’ or so it isn’t deadly but if someone has a better figure I’d like to know. - Blanks don’t have wadding, just a crimped end. Even if they did, wadding won’t retain any lethal force at 50’. [https://cdn3.volusion.com/jodua.csmpx/v/vspfiles/photos/SA13B-2.jpg?v-cache=1547484779](https://cdn3.volusion.com/jodua.csmpx/v/vspfiles/photos/SA13B-2.jpg?v-cache=1547484779) ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/116 "2021-10-22T12:49:00Z")
Thanks for the clarification. Not that I’m not still confused. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/117 "2021-10-22T12:49:26Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I hate Alec Baldwin and hope he does hard time in prison. Not arguing the moderation, just wanted to say that this made me laugh. Rather like the snarky style of a certain C. Adams. (Might have gone better if asahi had just left it at that.) ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/118 "2021-10-22T12:51:17Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Thanks for the clarification. Not that I’m not still confused. I’m also still confused. I always thought a blank was simply a bubble of gunpowder that was hammered down on to make noise and smoke - kind of like a kid’s toy gun, without the strip of paper coming out the end. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/119 "2021-10-22T12:52:28Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > He’s a fucking scumbag, but go ahead and defend him because he’s ‘on our side’ I am in full agreement that Alec Baldwin is a scumbag. But people should only be sent to prison because they’re guilty of committing a serious crime. We should not imprison people just because we don’t like them. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960/120 "2021-10-22T12:54:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > We should not imprison people just because we don’t like them. With the exception of the Dutch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-crew-member-with-prop-gun-2021-10-21/952960.md?page=7)