Hollywood Weapons Expert: Alec Baldwin Ignored the No. 1 Rule of Gun Safety

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Matthew Eisman/Getty Images for Hamptons International Film Festival

Hollywood weapons expert Bryan Carpenter responded of the death and injuries related to Alec Baldwin’s discharge of a prop gun while filming by suggesting Baldwin ignored the number rule of gun safety.

Breitbart News reported that the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office was investigating after Baldwin discharged the gun on the set of ‘Rust’ Thursday, killing 42-year-old director of photography Halyna Hutchins and wounding director 48-year-old Joel Souza.

The New York Post quoted Carpenter stressing that the No. 1 rule as, “Loaded or unloaded, a weapon never gets pointed at another human being.”

He noted that rules of gun safety apply even on a movie set, where “you never let the muzzle of a weapon cover something you don’t intend to destroy.”

An additional, overarching gun safety rule is that individuals are to treat every gun as if is loaded. This rule goes hand-in-hand with the one on which Carpenter focused and also negates pointing a gun at anyone, as the firearm is always presumed loaded.

In addition to the gun safety issues, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees claim “Halyna Hutchins was killed by a live round of ammunition.”

The Post spoke with former filmmaker and US National Shooting Team member Peter Lake, who said, “I can’t think of any reason there would be a live round anywhere on set. They are generally prohibited from movie sets. There is no explanation I can think of why there would be a live round in a gun on set. You certainly wouldn’t have it in the hands of an actor.”

Alec Baldwin has been an anti-gun activist for years, even participating in an anti-NRA ad campaign.

One of his more prominent gun control tweets has come back to haunt him in the aftermath of Thursday’s shooting. Breitbart News reported one of Baldwin’s tweets from years gone by in which he wrote, “I wonder how it must feel to wrongfully kill someone.”

Attorney Andrew Stoltmann told Fox News he believes actor Alec Baldwin “needs to start thinking like a potential defendant instead of just somebody who made a tragic mistake.”

Stoltmann added, “I’m certainly not saying he’s going to be charged, but what I am saying is anytime somebody shoots another human being – even on accident, even in self-defense – the police and eventually prosecutors look very, very carefully at what happened.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkinsa weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.

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