WS Chronicle

By James B. Ewers Jr.

I like to watch horse operas (cowboy shows) on television and in the movies. Gunsmoke and The Rifleman are two of my favorites.

It could be argued that I have watched every episode. The different scenes are at my instant recall. I have watched them for so long that I even know when they are going to commercial breaks.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, along with The Magnificent Seven, are two of my favorite movies. Six shooters going off and shotguns blazing have always played a major role in these shows and movies. Getting shot and\or killed were major storylines for almost any rendition of Gunsmoke and The Rifleman. That was the wild, wild west! I was almost surprised when no shots were fired.

The movies I mentioned also had shooting as a consistent theme. It has always been that way. Will it change?

While watching all the shootings and mischief play out, I knew they were fake bullets and guns. I understood fully that the men and women presumably injured or killed weren’t that at all. After all, these were just weekly television shows and movies. Actors playing roles and getting paid handsomely to get shot.

However, I have wondered a time or two about the fake bullets. My thoughts were centered around who was in charge of checking for blanks to put into the guns?

Additionally, I thought there are companies that manufactured these bullets for Hollywood productions. Not in a million years did I think someone would get shot and killed on a movie set.

Sadly, it did happen.

This is tragic and unthinkable, given the resources and personnel that are attached to the movie industry. But here we are with real death and injury on a movie set.

During the filming of the western entitled “Rust,” famed actor Alec Baldwin accidentally shot and killed Halyna Hutchins, cinematographer, who was a part of the crew. Another member of the set, Joel Souza, was also injured in the shoulder with the weapon fired by Mr. Baldwin.

Santa Fe County (New Mexico) Sheriff Adan Mendoza said, “Obviously, I think the industry has had a record recently of being safe.”

He added, “But I think there are some safety issues that need to be addressed by the industry and possibly by the state of New Mexico.”

Alec Baldwin spoke with a reporter on Saturday expressing remorse and grief. He said, “The shooting was a one-in-a- trillion episode.”

It is clear there will be a lengthy and comprehensive investigation. There will not be a rush to judgment. 

According to reports, the film, “Rust,” will not resume shooting. This film, in my opinion, will never see the light of day.

There are crew members of the Rust set who have made comments about what happened. One crew member said, “There were no safety meetings. There was no assurance that it wouldn’t happen again. All they wanted to do was rush, rush, rush.”

Those comments were made after two real shots were fired. This happened after being told the gun was “cold,” meaning it didn’t have ammunition in it, including blanks. This occurred before the Baldwin incident.

The movie industry is now going to become both apprehensive and deliberate about the necessary steps to ensure public safety while filming. This unfortunate incident will stay in the minds of many for years to come. Jobs, positions, and protocols will be reevaluated and reassessed. Nothing will be taken for granted or assumed. 

The hurtful and forever painful part of this is that it took death to create more awareness about gun safety on movie sets.

James B. Ewers Jr. Ed.D. is a former tennis champion at Atkins High School in Winston-Salem and played college tennis at Johnson C. Smith University, where he was all-conference for four years.  He is a retired college administrator.  He can be reached at  overtimefergie.2020@yahoo.com