ALEC BALDWIN'S EXPENSIVE LESSON ABOUT GUNS

By Joel Goodman —— Bio and Archives October 23, 2021

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I'm a firearms dealer. I'm also an NRA Safety Instructor - and an actor.

Rule #1 - “Never point a gun at someone you don't want to shoot.”

Quite possibly if Alec Baldwin had learned to properly use a firearm and gained more respect for both their utilitarian purpose and their danger—he wouldn't have discharged a weapon in the direction of 42-year-old Director of Photography Halyna Hutchins.

Accidents do happen

Accidents do happen, but when they do, if the basic rules of guns safety are followed the result is usually not tragic— just embarrassing. I have unintentionally discharged weapons in the course of my forty-year involvement with the use of firearms; but fortunately the resulting discharge was always in the direction of the ground and not where it might have harmed someone. During my time as a professional actor, I have used “prop” guns on a set two times—once on the Paramount back-lot —and the gun, a 4” .38 Special, was jealously guarded by the Armorer. I received the gun moments before the filming started and then the gun was taken back immediately after the filming stopped. Only the armorer had access to the weapon. I did a scene on Miami Vice opposite Don Johnson, and during the scene he was to pull his Smith and Wesson .45ACP and point it at me. I demanded to check the weapon, but was initially rebuffed by the Armorer. I went to the director and told him I wouldn't do the scene unless I first checked the gun, explaining that I was an NRA Safety Instructor and that SAG rules allowed me to confirm that the gun was unloaded. Ultimately, the armorer, checked the gun, including magazine, in front of me and guaranteed that Johnson wouldn't have the gun until the filming started.

If Baldwin had more respect for guns rather than a general disdain for guns, he wouldn't have pointed the gun at Ms Hutchins

This is where “chain of custody” is a life or death matter. One never knows if a Looney Tunes individual will put an actual live cartridge in the gun when no one is looking. I was a Featured Day Player on Miami Vice and Johnson was the Star - but safety rules apply to everyone —especially on a movie set where there is much going on and there is a great deal of pressure to get a scene in the can as inexpensively as possible. I will confidentially speculate that, regardless of what happened, the term “accidental discharge” does not cover the situation with Alec Baldwin. If Baldwin had more respect for guns rather than a general disdain for guns, he wouldn't have pointed the gun at Ms Hutchins. The arrogance he has displayed in his anti-gun statements is no less arrogant that his flagrantly pointing a gun at a person he didn't intend to kill.

Rule two: - “All guns are loaded - even when they are not.”