OA685: The Alec Baldwin Charges

For anyone commenting based on their experience with/knowledge of guns, know that anyone who has spent even one day on a film set and anyone who has done stage combat is right there with you. This is not normal. More red flags than a Communist parade.

Shrooom!

Keishu, I was confused too at first, before realizing that Patreon moved the download button to the 'three dot' menu.

Hold on, where is the download link?? Has Patreon removed them again? I can't really listen to the show without it.

Keishu Asada

Something that I thought she was going to bring up is how the live ammunition got on set. This was something I heard shortly after the shooting and perhaps it's been disproven since then, but allegedly members of the crew brought ammunition to plink at tin cans during their break. This raises the question of how they were able to get access to the prop weapons and why nobody stopped them. Maybe they brought their own guns that used the same caliber as the one in the movie and a handful of live rounds got swept up and added to the pool of blanks and dummies. This should have been caught by the armorer, but it at least paints a picture of how this situation happened that doesn't need to resort to conspiracy theories that involve jealous coworkers incriminating the armorer or Trump going after Alec Baldwin.

Osmium

Hey Andrew, recently there's been a very interesting development in CA law that's basically changing zoning forever coming TOMMORROW of all days. https://darrellowens.substack.com/p/ca-cities-to-lose-all-zoning-powers headline sounds really interesting but I have my doubts. This could be a really big deal for affordable housing in CA and maybe the US in general. Could you break it down for us?

The part about the armorer being “set up” is insane. Anyone with even a modicum of experience with arms and ammunition would be able to tell the difference between types of rounds. Most people familiar with guns who have half a brain can tell you roughly how full a magazine is and with what type of rounds just by holding it and feeling the weight. A professional armorer should have no problem picking up a round and telling you whether it’s live, blank, or dummy. In most cases they should be able to do it on sight but I don’t know how realistic Hollywood dummy rounds look.

Billy Whitehouse

I agree with you in theory but in practice that means never seeing someone aim a gun at themselves or another person on screen or stage. That’s just not how things will ever work (especially in live productions).

Billy Whitehouse

Although it didn't work in this instance, I think everyone on the set is safer if the actor can delegate gun safety to an expert solely focused on that issue rather than it be one of several issues they're juggling before the scene.

Gmork

I didn't argue this legally. I am not a lawyer. I am speaking about the use of firearms. "Actors aren't responsible for gun safety for a very specific reason...Their jobs sometimes require them to violate gun safety rules in their head at the same time that they had to violate them." NO. You need to reread that and have a serouis think about why you believe that and think it's OK. If a director wants a shot that is unsafe then they shouldn't get that shot. Full stop. A movie is never more important than life. I can design a system that can guarantee safe use of a firearm on a set. I wouldn't have to though because over the decades people have developed procedures that have been amazingly effective. That person died on that day because a large amount of people didn't give a fuck.

Big Lib

That doesn't mean it rises to the level of criminal charges. Actors aren't relied upon to be responsible for gun safety for a very specific reason... Their job sometimes requires them to violate typical gun safety rules. That's why the procedures were built around having strong controls on the custody of the weapons and multiple people verifying their safety. It would be less safe to create a situation where an actor had to keep typical gun safety rules in their head at the same time that they had to violate them. It's extremely easy to say something like you said and to an extent I don't disagree... It just doesn't actually translate into any actionable conclusions.

TMoney2007

Being a gun guy I think what happened was 100% preventable and only caused by severe negligence. Everyone who was in the chain of custody of that gun is responible no matter age, gender, occupation, or level of fame.

Big Lib

great breakdown! looking forward to following the outcome. next pop law request: the young thug RICO case in fulton county?

lauren brown

Excellent episode! I’ve been wondering about the details and legal breakdown on this, and Morgan did a fantastic job as usual.

Therese Chan