(CNN)On Thursday, Alec Baldwin fired what he was told was a safe 

"prop gun" on the set of the

film "Rust." Instead, the gun was apparently loaded with live ammunition, leading to the
stunning death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injury to the movie's director, Joel
Souza. Though an intense police investigation continues, it seems highly unlikely that Baldwin
will be charged with a crime. So, after such a terrible tragedy, now what?

Paul Callan
Normally, when a gunman aims a firearm at another person and deliberately pulls the trigger
causing death, the charge of murder is easily sustained. However, that's not the case here -- and it
has nothing to do with Baldwin's power, wealth or notoriety. Here, both the law and the facts
suggest he is innocent of any criminal conduct. On the contrary, he may be fairly viewed as one
of the surviving victims of this horrific incident, likely to be haunted for the rest of his life by the
role he unintentionally played in causing Hutchins' death.
The shooting occurred during a rehearsal on the film's set in New Mexico. (Ironically, the plot of
the movie concerns the aftermath of an accidental shooting.) According to an affidavit filed in a
Santa Fe court last week, assistant director David Halls yelled "cold gun" before handing the
firearm to Baldwin for the scene. The court document states that Halls didn't know there were
live rounds in the weapon, which was one of three prop guns that were set up in a cart by an
armorer for the movie. 
In movie parlance, a "cold gun" is not loaded with any ammunition. The gun might later be
loaded with blanks, depending upon whether the gun is to be fired in the scene. Blanks are
cartridges containing gunpowder and lightly sealed at their tip where the bullet would normally
sit. A handgun firing a blank will replicate the recoil and muzzle flash from the barrel of the gun,
but no bullet is expelled from the gun's nozzle.
The recoil and muzzle flash make the firing of the gun look real to the movie audience, though
some directors now use CGI (computer-generated imagery) to replicate the effect while avoiding
the danger of firing blanks. Even a gun loaded with blanks can cause injury, which is
why armorers recommend a safe distance of around 20 feet or so from the weapon. Everyone on
a movie set where guns are in use is supposed to be aware, as a result of training, of the danger
potentially posed by the firing of blanks.

Now that guns can kill hundreds in minutes, Supreme Court should rethink the rights question
The criminal law in New Mexico is like that in other US states and criminalizes deaths and
injuries caused by recklessness or criminal negligence. These laws generally refer to the crimes
of voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. In this case, prosecutors will be looking at the facts
to determine who had the responsibility to examine the gun before it was handed to Baldwin to
confirm that it was loaded only with blanks. Any person involved who failed to properly
examine the firearms slated for use might be a potential target in the criminal investigation.
Baldwin did not have the responsibility to stop the rehearsal and examine the gun's cylinder to
determine that the supposed "cold gun" was loaded with blanks. By custom and practice in the
movie industry, an actor has the right to rely on other individuals on set with the responsibility to
ensure that prop firearms are safe for use. Police likely would want to interview the film's
"armorer," Hannah Gutierrez, who has yet to provide a public statement, and the assistant
director who passed the weapon in question to Baldwin.
Something had to be seriously amiss on the set of "Rust" for this tragic shooting to occur. Who
put live rounds in a gun that was supposed to be loaded with blanks, if anything at all? Why
would any live rounds ever be placed in a gun slated for use by an actor on set?
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While many of the facts have yet to be revealed by prosecutors, this case could even turn out to
be a form of "depraved mind" murder under New Mexico's murder statutes. If live ammunition
was deliberately loaded into the firearm handed to Baldwin by an individual who knew the gun
would be fired at other actors on set, this would become a murder case and not merely a tragic
accident.
Before Thursday's shooting, several crew members quit the production over safety concerns that
included gun inspections, according to the Los Angeles Times and other news organizations. At
this point, we don't know whether that has anything to do with this tragedy until we find out who
put live ammunition in the gun. If it turns out to be an intentional act, the genre evoked by the
film will sadly change from historical fiction to true crime.
Note: An earlier version incorrectly defined a "cold gun," which is a term for a gun that is
empty. 

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