Editor’s Note: Jill Filipovic is a journalist based in New York and author of the book “OK Boomer, Let’s Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind.” Follow her on Twitter @JillFilipovic. The opinions expressed in this commentary are her own. View more opinion on CNN.
CNN
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In a nation beset by gun violence and that levies too few consequences on irresponsible gun owners and users, it’s pretty surprising to see that actor Alec Baldwin will be charged with involuntary manslaughter in New Mexico after a tragic accident on the set of the film “Rust” in October 2021.
Authorities say Baldwin was using a gun he was handed by an assistant director, which he had no reason to believe was loaded with a live round – and indeed, the assistant director reportedly told the people on set that it was a “cold gun.”
Baldwin was doing a “cross draw” – pulling a gun from a holster on the opposite side of his body from his draw hand. In the scene, Baldwin was told to point the gun toward the camera lens.
That was when director Joel Souza said he heard “what sounded like a whip and then a loud pop.” A shot went off, striking cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in the chest and killing her. A bullet also hit Souza in the shoulder, but he survived.
Baldwin denies he pulled the trigger, saying he only pulled back the hammer and released it.
At first glance, the charges against Baldwin, which have been welcomed by Hutchins’ family, seem extreme.
While I don’t believe there are many true “accidents” involving guns – it’s hard to bring a weapon designed to maim and kill into the picture and then find yourself surprised when that weapon maims or kills – the wholly aberrational circumstances of this shooting do make it seem like a freak occurrence.
Movie sets have layers of professionals and safety protocols to ensure that things like this don’t happen, which is precisely why things like this don’t typically happen (the last high-profile incident like this one was when Brandon Lee was shot and killed on the set of “The Crow” in 1993 when a co-star fired a prop gun that was loaded with a real bullet).
Yes, usually it is the responsibility of the person holding that gun to not point it at…
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