The tragic incident that resulted in the death of cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, on a film set last week has left many people questioning the use of firearms in the entertainment industry and how its being managed. 

Alec Baldwin, the actor who fired the gun, was informed by Santa Fe County Sheriff Joel Cano that it was a ¨Cold Gun,¨ meaning the firearm had no rounds in it.  Baldwin was hurt and saddened by this tragedy and tweeted how he felt about the situation.“There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours,” Mr. Baldwin, 63, said in a statement last week on Twitter. 

Although incidents like this are very rare on the Rust set, calls  for a gun ban have been raised on set, with more than 23,000 signatures collected by Monday. Among the supporters was actress Olivia Wilde.

The responsibility for the use of guns and other weapons on film sets, lies with each production’s property master or armorer. An armorer oversees all weapons that are used on a production. This can apply to anything like having the appropriate guns for a certain time period and making sure the guns are being safely used as well as making sure they´re all appropriately ready for the film set. On film sets, the safety protocols for using guns are well established and straightforward: Weapons must be tightly managed by licensed armorers, cast members should be trained in gun safety, and live ammunition should never be used.

“I think films can convincingly make a prop look like a real gun, but if real ones are being involved, they should have more steps or safety precautions before having them be used”, says junior John Sees after being asked about his opinion on real guns being used on movie sets.

“Prop guns are guns,” TV writer David Slack tweeted. “Blanks have real gunpowder in them. They can injure or kill – and they have. If you’re ever on a set where prop guns are treated without proper caution and safe handling, walk away.”

It’s not absolute that the film industry would change the way they involve guns in films; however, this incident will leave armorers and actors to be more careful when handling gun props or blanks.