I’m puzzled….Defense Attorney in opening spoke of how HGR was completely qualified and competently trained by her father and yet their defense seems to be that she was only 24 yrs old and they put too much on her by asking her to also take on other duties. Yet I read somewhere that it is normal for people on set to have more than one role - including the armorer because of the limited number of scenes in a movie involving guns or ammo. AB said the shoot was scheduled for about 30 days and defense attorney said HGR was told no when she asked for more than 8 days as armorer so it sounds like they were anticipating about 30% of the time to need an armorer - that is to be working on scenes involving weapons and armor. I don’t know much about making movies but it seems reasonable to me that less than 1/3 of a movie would involve weapons. It also seems reasonable to me that they would hire an armorer for the 8 days they thought they would need one and offer that person other duties to get more hours in on the project rather than have them sit in a trailer somewhere waiting for the next scene involving firearms.
But how can the defense say both that HGR was properly trained and qualified but use her age and lack of experience as a reason she should not be held responsible?
PS Can anyone clarify for me whether an armorer needs to have a permit or be certified or hold a license and whether or not HGR had such credentials?
There's a prop masters union that they can join, which probably has some minimum training and certifications but anyone off the street can be hired to be an armorer.
IF the movie company is smart, they'll have a list of certs and training in the job vacancy for the person they're looking to hire.
As retired mil and a gunsmith (which doesn't require a certification either), some of the things I'd imagine a generic movie wanting in an armorer:
1. Armorer certifications in specific firearms being used, such as AR15, Glock, Sig, etc. Armorer in a specific weapon is NOT the same as movie armorer. AR15 armorer means the person has attended a course, usually through a manufacturer, to learn how to do repairs on a specific type of gun. I attended the Brownells course for AR15 and the company courses for a number of pistols.
2. FFL (federal firearms license), if the armorer is going to be providing weapons vs renting or buying through a 3rd party like they did with Rust.
3. Safety certs, like NRA instructor certification.
4. And, of course, experience.
Most big movies used armorer companies. From what I know of guns and what I've learned about this movie, my opinion is that they should have had one full time armorer and at least one assistant. And someone with experience as a trainer. And there should have been better equipment. EVERYTHING gun related, even the holster belts with dummy rounds, should be locked up.
I've read that Thell Reed pulled strings to get HGR this job. If the information is correct, Thell and Seth both recommended HGR and Seths sister-in-law (I think SIL) to be armorer and prop master. I can't imagine how or why he had such a lapse in judgement to recommend a 24yo with no experience to train and enforce safety regs with someone like Alec Baldwin.
