Acting might not seem to be the most dangerous of professions, but in this special case, events took to a deadly turn. In October 2021, actor Alec Baldwin was involved in an accidental shooting on set of the movie ‘Rust.’ Baldwin is now being charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Involuntary manslaughter occurs when there is an accidental killing of another person due to negligence or recklessness. In this case, the New Mexico DA believes it was Baldwin’s job to make sure the gun was safe. This is not the job of an actor and this is why Baldwin should not be found guilty. 

 Most important to this case is the idea that an actor has the expertise to determine whether or not a gun is safe, but there are other experts on the set who are there to do this job. It is not the job of the actors to be gun safety specialists. 

An actor on the set, Douglas Stewart, shared his beliefs with TMZ where has stated that in his entire career, he has never been on a set where it is the actors job to check a gun.

“I’ve been in movies and plays where I’ve had to use guns. In all of those previous experiences, there were strict procedures in place — procedures that clearly state a stage manager or armorer is responsible for preparing and handling the gun over to the actor,” Stewart told TMZ. 

Baldwin did not know the gun was loaded with real bullets, as real bullets are not permitted on film sets. The reason why real bullets were present is still not clear, but investigators speculate that the suppliers of the dummy casings may have mixed real with fake rounds.

 Which leads to the question: how could the armorer, whose job it is to ensure the guns are safe, allow a gun on set that had live rounds in it?

The armorer was Hannah Gutierrez Reed. She claims that when she handed the gun to Baldwin, she checked to make sure that no hot ammunition rounds were in the gun. 

This is still a mystery to the crew. Opposing viewpoints believe that Baldwin should be charged for involuntary manslaughter since he pulled the trigger. Baldwin was the one who shot the gun but the case against him is weak and he should  be acquitted because he was not responsible for gun safety.

The biggest problem with Baldwin’s case involves the live rounds. Investigators can not figure out how the real bullets got in the gun or on the set. They are looking for someone to blame and they are targeting Baldwin, who is not responsible.