This one’s nuts.
Alec Baldwin Wants a Police Officer on Movie and TV Sets to Monitor Real and ‘Fake’ Guns
“Every film/TV set that uses guns, fake or otherwise,” Alec Baldwin tweeted Monday, “should have a police officer on set.”
These would be the cops who mistake the various for guns?
- Hands
- Pens
- Pencils
- Cell phones
- Darkness
- Cameras (that’ll be fun on a set)
- Umbrellas
- Canes
The fact is that, as a subgroup of those who regularly carry firearms, cops are among the worst trained. With all due respect to those who recognize carry as a duty to train for, in my own personal experience overall, badge-wearers have terrible firearms safety habits: fingers on triggers, muzzling people, poor target recognition, and so on. I’ve been to more than one range that doesn’t allow law enforcement personnel due to multiple safety violations. I once refused to sell ammunition to a Mass cop because he couldn’t figure out what his “police gun” was chambered for.
On the other hand, a New Hampshire cop had a standing invitation to shoot at my personal range… because I knew that he did know what the heck he’s doing.
Putting the typical off-duty street cop on set as a range safety officer ranks down there with hiring Hannah Gutierrez-Reed as an armorer.
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A trained armorer will out-perform a cop in this capacity, but the armorer needs to have authority to halt production for a safety issue, without fear of reprisal from the executive staff. My suspicion is that this young lady probably had to deal with Mr. Baldwin’s notorious temper, and that induced her (and others) to cut corners.
I tell all my students that somebody getting shot is either intentional or negligence. If all the rules are followed religiously, even in the event of an unintentional discharge, the risk of injury would be minimized.
I think Mr. Baldwin’s proposal is the result of a guilty conscience and the realization that he’s not infallible.
I think Mr. Baldwin’s proposal is the result of his sheer inability to recognize/accept responsibility. He’s still shifting blame.He’s a sixty-something child, still blaming “Ida Noe.”
I don’t care if someone stuffed every chamber in the cylinder with live rounds and told him it was completely empty. Hutchins would be alive if Baldwin had followed at least ONE of the four rules.
Putting an officer on set, would likely transfer liability to the government that employed the officer.