This isn't meant as a poke at you but here is how I look at it...
A movie set and having an armorer or not on it....
The person picking up that gun even if it was a prop gun which it wasn't.... that person with said firearm should've opened the loading gate/action and he should've checked and confirmed what was in it. If it had live ammo he would've seen it right off the bat (I'm assuming the blanks are crimped blanks or have a cardboard in the end etc...) and questioned it and stopped everything and have the armorer confirm it before going any further.
Like the saying goes, "you can break one rule of gun safety and get lucky and get away with it but break two rules of gun safety and usually an accident/something bad happens!" Break all three rules and then for sure.
I also will say this... even if your a movie star on set and if you've never had a training class on how to handle firearms at all.... then they should be forced to take a firearms training class. Period. I don't care who you are.
It is sad but it cracked me up on some of his interviews when he said..."I didn't pull the trigger... it went off by itself type garbage.... sorry but the gun didn't pull the trigger on it's own.
He in the end is responsible and should be held negligent for the use of the firearm. Even if the armorer made a the horrific mistake of loading live rounds in the gun... he should've still opened it and checked it himself before using it in anyway shape or form.
Frank,
No offense was taken here and you're certainly welcome to your opinion and I appreciate the discussion. If anything else- I likely agree with everything you stated (for what it's worth) and it was received it as a polite and constructive response.
I suspect the issue is on my end and that I didn't explain my position clearly enough and that's on me, not anyone else. So I'll try again, not with the intention to sway anyone's opinion but instead to provide some more clarity on how I see the matter unfolding (and I'm ok with being wrong, it is after all just one opinion and likely not aligned with the majority here, and that's ok with me). To be clear, I'm NOT defending AB, I'm also NOT saying negligence didn't exist or wasn't largely a contributing factor of what happened. I'm also NOT saying AB is a 'swell' guy worthy of our sympathies for what happened. Rather, my opinion is based on the following clarification...
I suspect, on the criminal proceedings at least (regarding the manslaughter charges), AB's defense will make it clear that the actors' are not firearm specialists, never have been and a gun is nothing more than any other prop to them. They'll likely provide evidence supporting this within the lens of 'industry standards' and hiring a specialist to worry about those things and there not being any standing precedent where actors are held to any liability for 'clearing' props that could potentially incorporate grave harm and/or death to the staff. I wouldn't at all be surprised to learn that there's a section in the contract that absolves the movie producers from liabilities in such circumstances. They'll likely also point to the myriad of movies AB has made using firearms as as a prop with the same... discretion I'll say, without any issue. And with regards to the preponderance of evidence required in a legal proceeding for a guilty verdict, I really do think that the defense's arguments using that as an opinion would have some merit from that perspective and have a significant weight on the outcomes of the proceedings.
With that said- lives were lost and real tragedies were incurred, and someone has to pay the proverbial 'piper' and I think that will happen on the civil side of things. How I see that playing out though, is not in the criminal court but more likely in the civil court where the legal thresholds are lower. I haven't been watching the case with tremendous attention/scrutiny, but if I recall right, the armorer responsible for the safety procedures was found guilty (and also adopted a more 'conservative' hairstyle throughout the process) and I think that's going to be the only scapegoat convicted in criminal courts. On the civil side of the law, I do think as being part as a producer of the film, the courts will rule that negligence existed from that side (for hiring an incompetent/unqualified armorer if nothing else) and they will be liable for a monetary ruling to the surviving members of the folks impacted and that will likely be paid out by the insurance company rather than from AB's personal bank account. Again, I just call it as I see it and that's my prediction in this whole matter, I'm more than fine being wrong but I'm pretty sure AB is able to afford the best lawyers and ensure this is the outcome when it all gets played out.
As I previously mentioned, I have no disagreement with your position but the SH audience is a bit unique with some elements with this case with our understanding of firearms, firearm safety, etc and I don't think AB will be held to the same standard although "our" understanding of what went wrong is likely influenced by this knowledge but I doubt it'll reach the reasonable man legal standard as being applicable to the negligence argument for criminal manslaughter with the jury. Put another way- many of us are of the same 'mindset' and thus responses here will likely resemble an echo chamber. Neither right or wrong of course- just calling it as I see it is all.
I'm NOT suggesting that what AB did was right, I'm NOT saying that mistakes weren't made, I'm NOT excusing this as 'just one of those things'. But I really don't see this concluding with a guilty charge for manslaughter based off of those observations. The only precedence I can personally think of that directly applies to this case is what happened to Brandon Lee during the filming of "The Crow". Admittedly, I didn't take the time to research the entirety of the case but from what I remember of it at least, there was a big investigation, they figured out it was a lodged bullet in the barrel that was 'set off' from the blanks etc, but I don't believe any of the actors that were involved with BL were held to manslaughter charges (and I'm fairly certain that'll come up too as a legal precedent).
Apologies for getting long winded but hopefully that clarified where my previous opinions were coming from. Appreciate your opinions regardless.
-LD