Was I Right About The Baldwin Shooting?

It’s too early to say for sure, but an important aspect of my early surmise—that there was target shooting going on at the ranch where the Baldwin movie was being filmed—is being reported to be correct:

Gun that killed Halyna Hutchins used by crew off-set for fun: report

The prop gun that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a New Mexico movie set had been used by crew members offsite for fun, a new report claims.

The gun, which was fired by Alec Baldwin on the set of the movie “Rust,” may have even been loaded with live rounds when it was used for what was essentially target practice, TMZ reported.

Multiple sources connected to the production of the film told TMZ that the gun was fired at off-the-clock gatherings – which could explain how a live round found its way into the gun’s chamber.

Another source who was on set told the outlet that when cops arrived they found live ammo and blank rounds stored in the same area, where the fatal mix-up could have occurred.

Officials have not confirmed the claims, TMZ said.

You may recall that I surmised that, since this was a Western movie, there was a fair likelihood that, if range practice was taking place at the Bonanza ranch, then there was a pretty good chance that the practice involved replica revolvers firing .38 Special wadcutter ammo as often used in Cowboy Action shooting. I pointed out that such wadcutter ammo could be mistaken for .38 “blank” ammo—at least by someone as inexperienced as the armorer is reported to have been.

Now we know that such range sessions were taking place.

From the account above, what strikes me as the most damning aspect is not so much that the gun in question was used at the range and was loaded with live ammo—it could, after all, be easily unloaded. No, the worst is that “live ammo and blank rounds [were] stored in the same area.” That’s exactly how wadcutters and blanks could be mistakenly mixed up. There should have been strict segregation of ammo.

I’m admittedly not an expert on these matters, but from examining photos online it appears to me that it would be less likely to confuse the blanks of other Western style rounds—.45 Long Colt being the most likely alternative for purposes of authenticity—with live ammo of that caliber.

In any event, such negligent ammo handling will inevitably reflect on the producer: Alec Baldwin.