Recently, shock waves have been rolling out after the news of a fatal shooting incident involving acclaimed actor Alec Baldwin. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was mortally wounded when Baldwin accidentally shot her with live rounds. Director Joel Souza was injured and is still recovering in hospital. The tragic event occurred on the set of the now halted movie Rust. 

The incident reflects a broader issue with gun safety on film sets and the production of scenes. While we are not yet sure if one person is to blame, the real problem lies within the broader organization and supervision of weapons on set.

The actual responsibility for gun use lies upon the production’s property master or armory expert. On the set of Rust, the armorer was an inexperienced woman named Hannah Gutierrez. Gutierrez has only worked on three films, Rust being her third. Gutierrez previously had many complaints on a film set only two months earlier before filming Rust and was requested by a crew member to be fired. She allegedly fired a gun without warning and infuriated actor Nicholas Cage. Yet, she was allowed to work again and went on to be involved in this recent death. It makes one wonder if the outcome of the event on Rust wouldn’t have happened, if only maybe they hired a professional.

It is alleged that Gutierrez set out the guns on a prop table, and Assistant Director Dave Halls yelled out a gun and handed it to Baldwin. Neither Halls nor Gutierrez checked the gun to see if there were live rounds, despite the fact that live ammunition shouldn’t even have been on the set to begin with. Additionally, just a couple hours before, half the crew walked off the set firstly because of long hours, commutes, and long wait for paychecks, but most importantly also because of concerns for gun safety. The crew was concerned because on Saturday, October 16 a stunt double accidentally shot two rounds of ammunition after being told it was “cold.” Apparently, no one even attended safety meetings after the fact. It was an eerie precursor for the event that subsequently followed

Though there is no legal or definitive set of rules when a scene requires a gun, there is a standard protocol for the use of firearms. But there needs to be an industry standard, and more importantly, there needs to be laws in place to prevent these very kinds of devastation. This isn’t even the first time this sort of incident occurred. In 1993 when he was only 28, actor Brandon Lee was shot and killed on the set of the Crow. Another actor reportedly shot him with a prop gun that unbeknownst to them had a live bullet lodged in the barrel. Hauntingly it mirrors the recent accident involving Baldwin.

What’s infuriating to many is that the whole thing was so avoidable. There were so many warning signs that the production was unsafe, and so many opportunities to intervene. The production company failed to help the situation on set, and ignored all the glaringly obvious issues. It’s almost like to them that everyone is dispensable, and all they want is to make the movie, get their money, and be done with it all. Gutierrez should never have been hired, as she had previous complaints from other films, and ones on the set of Rust. Yet they did not fire her, or even address any of the concerns the crew was actively voicing. Most importantly they also turned a blind eye to the accident involving the stunt double, at that point intervention was definitely needed, or at least some sort of acknowledgment that something needed to change.

There can’t be room for error within these productions. Many people in the industry will argue that the use of fake or prop guns is inauthentic and ruins the artistic realism within film, but is it worth it? If we are going to keep real firearms around in movies there has to be more measures in place, and more laws. The answer isn’t necessarily something absolute like passing a law to indefinitely ban guns on set. The answer is more like something along the lines of actually hiring experienced and well interviewed armourers, as well as training crew members on safety to prevent these sorts of devastating incidents.