From what HGR has said, they use at leaset three types of dummy round; one without a primer; one with a hole drilled in the side and one which is externally indistinguishable from real ammo but has a steel ball inside which rattles.
Stuff like this just smacks of desperation, in my view. This has been an investigation taking well over a year which seems to have been undertaken in a fairly through manner. Having read through the Probable Cause document it seemed fairly rationally argued, to me, without seeming political. Besides, it's a judge which gets to decide whether there is actually probable cause enough to go to trial, not the prosecutor.
Alec Baldwin asks court to DISQUALIFY special prosecutor in his case
Alec Baldwin (pictured) has demanded the special prosecutor assigned to his involuntary manslaughter case be disqualified due to her status as a Republican lawmaker.www.dailymail.co.uk
Um....he wants to choose his own prosecutor? One whose political beliefs align with his own?
What arrogance. You get to choose your defense attorney, not your prosecutor.
Jmo
)It looks like the differences are pretty subtle and easy to over look for all three variants:
No, malice is not an element. Intent is an element in all crimes. It may not be a specific intent, but an intent to the act. I think this is where the prosecutor is going come up short. I think the charges against AB ultimately will be amended or dismissed.
Not having a primer would really be the best way in my opinion. It would serve the same purpose as A. And it would be immediately visible if it was loaded in a chamber. Plus, if there is no primer, there really couldn't be any powder either.
Why is it a problem for an actor to check a gun to see if it's loaded? It's not hard to do and takes only a small amount of time.
You're right. An unprimed case would have an open hole in the bottom. No powder.
Well, let me start by saying that my opinion on this is based on what I have read/heard from other armorers and directors since this tragedy. And what I have learned, from hearing the people discuss the industry standard, is that there may not really be an industry standard. Because they all seem to say something different. But one thing I did hear often was that many actors don't have much or any experience with firearms. Because of this, when actors are handed firearms on a set, they are not to do anything with it other than what they are directed. This is to ensure the firearm remains in the same condition that the armorer wanted it in, and prevent any mistake or tampering. To really check a firearm, you need to unload it. So if this was the practice on this set, when handed the gun and told it was "cold" AB not only can rely on that, he must rely on it. Now, that certainly isn't the way firearms are handled in the "real world" but a movie set has different rules. That at least is the argument I would make for AB.
This is a good find, Ranch. This to me would be the best dummy round. If it is loaded into a revolver, it is still very easy to see that it is a dummy round by opening the trap door and rotating the cylinder.
If the actor checks the gun themselves by unloading it how could they cause it to become dangerous? The only way that I could see that happening is if the actor reloads the gun with different and live ammunition without anyone else noticing.
I think it just about the armorer being in control. He/she knows what is going on with each weapon.
Thanks for the good information. I agree. As is shown, no primer means no primer and no main charge.
That could well be so. The camera crewman that I spoke to who described very comprehensive safety rules:
Speillburg??
Ooops...... Spielberg.Speillburg??
All dummies have no primer. There are two main ways of marking them: a hole drilled in the side OR a BB inside that rattles. Also
