ALEC BALDWIN IS AN IDIOT, BUT HE'S NOT A KILLER

 THE MAX ALLEN REPORT

Volume #012723-1045                             January 27, 2023

HE'S AN IDIOT, BUT NOT A KILLER

Evidence to clear him, idiot though he be, is the gun he used.

Alec Baldwin's claim that he doesn't remember pulling the trigger on the gun holds more water than you might think.  He was handling a Colt .45 single-action revolver, known as the 'peacemaker'.  This was the standard sidearm in the period the movie; 'Rust' is supposedly taking place.

I have owned a number of single-action revolvers ranging from the 1857 Colt Navy to the 1872 Cold Army aka 'Peacemaker'.  They all have one thing in common, a hair trigger.  When the hammer is at full cock, the shooter has no business resting his finger anywhere near the trigger.  The standard practice of indexing [extending your trigger finger along the side of the gun away from the trigger] prevents accidental discharges.  And any competent shooter knows this.

Had Baldwin been a competent shooter, he would surely have been aware of this, knowing how to 'index' his firearm.  Had Baldwin been a competent shooter this shooting need never have happened.

Also, there is the mind-numbing question of how a 'real' gun fully loaded with 'real' bullets ever made it on the set.  Here the responsibility falls directly and squarely on the armourer's shoulders.  The armourer in this case had little experience, knowledge, or common sense in this matter.

I spoke with retired motion picture armourer David Stihl, and he says, "An armourer's job is to inspect the weapon before it changes hands to the actor.  It is then the responsibility of the armourer to watch over that actor as he checks out the weapon, again assuring its safety.  Once the scene is complete it is the armourer's job once again to inspect the weapon and ensure that it is made safe."

He went on to say, "I have never seen anything like this, where a fully functioning weapon [not one designed to fire only blank ammunition] is allowed on set, let alone that actual ammunition had ever gotten within a half mile of the set.  There's something fishy going on if you ask me."

The summary is simple.  With these doubts in play the armourer should face charges of 'negligent homicide' while Alex Baldwin's misfortune deserves nothing more than the charge of 'accidental homicide'.  The punishments of these two brands of homicide vary greatly.

We can only hope that justice will be done.  I'm Max, and that's the way I see it!