Comments by "MarcosElMalo2" (@MarcosElMalo2) on "Chaos And Confusion End In Tragedy On ‘Rust’ Film Set" video.

That’s not actually true, although I wondered about that myself. A chambered blank looks like a chambered live round. You’d have to pop the mag and clear the round to tell the difference—which is what you’re thinking. Basic gun safety says to always assume a firearm is loaded. Ideally, before you hand it over to someone else, you should look (and perhaps clear the weapon), and the person receiving it should do the same. I’m with you on that. But this was a movie set. The actor is supposed to be getting into character and maintaining that, not pausing to do a safety check before every take. Even if the actor pulls back on the slide for a quick visual check, he or she won’t be able to distinguish whether it’s a live round or a blank. Same deal with the Assistant Director. There are safety protocols that weren’t followed on this set. We can agree with that. But they’re not what we would call basic weapons safety. And the most basic question is, why were real weapons being used as props. Replica props can be used, recoil can be simulated by the actor, and the muzzle flash added as a special effect later. Second question is why wasn’t the armorer/weaponsmith on set where she should have been? It was her job to check each weapon as it was handed to the actor or the AD.
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