The Atlantic: For more than 30 years, Bill Davis’s job has been to help famous people look like they know what they’re doing with a gun. As an armorer working in Hollywood, Davis teaches movie stars how to properly handle firearms, and some are fast learners: He helped train Tom Cruise on the set of the film Collateral and walked away impressed with the actor’s form. Others require a little more instruction; Davis said he once had to scold Danny Glover for pulling the trigger too early during a scene in Saw.
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It is so disappointing to read after so many months of reading the stories of the Rust shooting, and the tragedies that props artists share in light of that incident. When the news came out, I remember thinking that this may be a turning point for workers rights, gun safety, or generally better protection laws for entertainment workers. After IATSE sympathized with the victims and gave a statement, I had even more hope. However, unfortunately at this moment in time, prop guns with dangerous ammo are simply the means to an end. I also had no idea about the Crow shooting in 1993, and that is even more shocking to me. Safety is a responsibility that is not only held by those who make the weapons in this case, every producer, director, actor, artists, or whomever has agency or power in the system takes on that responsibility. For example, a company should spend the extra time/ effort/ or money to switch over to safer alternative like rubber bullets or visual effects if they can.
This is honestly disheartening to read.. Of course, like almost anyone else, I heard about Hutchin’s death on set and was infuriated that something like that could even happen. Now, reading this article months later, I realize that I hadn’t even noticed as people stopped talking about the incident. Everyone talked about it, then didn’t. I think it is so important to acknowledge how this article talks about this in connection to American values: this country is so set on owning, having, using, loving guns- it makes me sick. And look, here we are: so little has actually changed on Hollywood sets after the Rust shooting (and! The 1993 shooting was a very similar situation). This is a safety issue and a values issue; I think this article points to the fact that this goes far beyond just Hollywood, but we need to re-think this issue and get solutions moving forward, and fast.
Unfortunately, I can't say that I'm too surprised to hear this. Unfortunately worker safety just isn't a priority in comparison to profits. The fact is that it's probably cheaper to use live charges in a prop firearm and let insurance cover the rare times where someone is injured or killed due to negligence in comparison to hiring someone to add the effect to a shot in post.
That's not to say that any of this is okay. One can easily argue that media companies have a responsibility to pursue effects that don't include a chance of killing or maiming an employee if it is at all possible. Any number is unacceptable and if one can't trust their process to prevent tragedies like this from occurring then they should pursue a truly non-lethal option in the form of VFX and CGI.
Nobody should have to be killed by a prop firearm. That is so far outside the realm of what is an acceptable work related hazard.
Honestly, it's infuriating to see that practically nothing came from Hutchins' tragic death. However, it's just as infuriating to see just how fake the responses and outcry that came out after the shooting really was. You have all these big names in Hollywood making statements, pledging to do better, and now they don't even want to talk about it. You have politicians in Sacramento promising to put forward legislation while the news is fresh and in the headlines, and then immediately backing down once the spotlight has passed. I mean for Christ sake, a man lost his wife and a son lost his mother! That's a life that can never be brought back or replaced. That hole will be there forever, and all anyone who had the power to implement change and actually help prevent that pain and anguish from happening to anyone else cared more about the good publicity and attention than actually doing anything useful. That extends to most things in this country, unfortunately, and is one of the reasons - especially in this age of social media leading to unprecedented levels of exposure both at home and worldwide - that no real social progress ever seems to be made, at least in my eyes.
Last year’s tragedy involving the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Huthcinsn was a horrendous tragedy that highlighted the safety condition of film sets at a pivotal time, one where the members of IATSE film locals were about to vote on whether to go on strike. I remember hearing the news for the first time and thinking about how long it would take for the entertainment industry to get over the accident. This is such a complicated situation, especially when considering who is to blame for the incident and how the accident could have been prevented. In my opinion, there is only one person who should be held responsible for the safety of the prop and the accidental discharge of a real bullet: the props armorer. A lot of people are criticizing Alec Baldwins failure to check if there was a bullet inside the gun. I think that an actor’s job is to merely act, so all the safety measures beforehand should have been conducted by the prop armorer. The reason why the article talks about how the Rust Shooting didn’t really change Hollywood is because we discovered that an accidental discharge is so much more nuanced than straight up negligence, so attributing blame and finding out where to pass comprehensive reform is a pretty difficult task. I hope that something could still be learned from the specific set of circumstances that led to this accident.
It is so frustrating to realize how much of a hold guns have on the US and how deadly situations don’t lead to a change in regulations. “When a hero in a film fires a gun and ends the life of a villain… It helps reassure [American audiences] that the individual has the power to solve things.” A quote that really puts everything into perspective. We need to address performative activism and the sense of false security it provides. There is a pattern after something tragic happens where a lot of media attention follows, then celebrities, politicians, and large organizations vow to implement change, then the media focuses on something else. Viewers trust that promises will be kept and don’t follow up. And even when they do, there is little support. We just passed the four year anniversary of the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High and there has still been no major changes to gun regulations despite numerous calls to action and the largest protest ever in Washington, D.C.
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