Would it really be that tough to conduct a one day gun safety course designed for actors?
Unlike everyone else, actors actually do have to point firearms at other people for gunfight scenes. So actors should be taught to not only check their guns to see whether they are loaded or not, but should be taught to recognize what type of ammo is in the gun. They need to be able to recognize blanks compared to live ammo. They should be taught to check the barrel for obstructions. Actors should also learn the minimum safe distance to be from someone when shooting blanks at them.
It appears that firing his gun wasn't in the script when Baldwin shot Hutchins. He was either confused or horsing around. Either way actors also need to be taught never to point their guns at people when it is not in the scene. The same goes for firing their gun, whether it's pointed at anyone or not.
I understand there is supposed to be an armorer to take care of all that, but this creates a single point of failure, which we have seen here and on the set of The Crow, where Brandon Lee was killed.
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