Gun Safety on Film Sets (with Bryan W. Carpenter) GCS286

[@LaGrandeBayou]

I’ve worked with Bryan several times on sets in Louisiana. He’s top notch in the Armorer field and was excellent to work with throughly knowledgeable and transparent but *always* with safety in mind. I’ve seen Bryan remove people from sets for violating the Armorers rules. It was a pleasure working with and training under a professional Armorer like Bryan with so many people on set.

[@GoCreativeShow]

That’s great to hear. I got that sense from him during the interview. Great guy! -Ben

[@andytopley314]

More people need to see this, as it makes it clear that the death of Halyna Hutchins was NOT an accident but a clear case of negligence.

[@GoCreativeShow]

Thank you so much for listening. Bryan was a great guest. -Ben

[@docfischer7291]

So I have a statement/question that I have yet to hear nor an answer to, even during the interrogations. During the beginning years of simunition all that was used were rounds filled with a dark powder (like baby powder) and a magnum primer . On the camera angle that is being used it appears that they were more than likely using a few dummy rounds that will appear correct in the cylinder. I know that those original simunition rounds hurt like hell being hit , the inertia involved could certainly penetrate the skin if close enough . I wonder if there were live primers installed in those rounds and weren’t spent cases as they should be . It was said multiple times that he felt no recoil when practicing with the guns and did not feel any recoil . He was talking about having to fake the recoil. Isn’t there a video that shows him faking it ?!

[@kdietz65]

Let's follow the "always treat a gun as if it is loaded" train of thought. If I have a gun which is truly believed or presumed to be loaded, would it be safe to point and cock the gun in the general direction of anyone, even if I was aiming a little bit off to the side instead of directly at them, and even if I was sure to keep my finger outside the trigger guard? No, it wouldn't be safe. It's an extra level of safeguard, but its still not safe. If I'm really following gun range rules, I can't point my gun down range if anyone is standing down range, no matter how far off to one side or another they are from me. Therefore, I do not believe that any movie set rules are truly treating a gun as if it is loaded. I think the reasons people point guns off to the side are (1) To minimize the flash and percussion of BLANKS (not live rounds), (2) Pointing a gun at someone could be considered rude. It's like spitting in someone's face, and (3) It gives people just a tiny bit extra level of comfort. But let's stop deluding ourselves that movie sets are following a guns-are-always-loaded protocol.

[@GoCreativeShow]

Great points

[@EntressInkFilmWorksllc]

It's unfortunate that no one is talking about the cinematographer that was killed. This is a show about professional DP's. This woman was one. A professional. All news has been about the rules on how the firearms and safety procedures on set. This lady's story should be told on her history on how she moved up the ladder of professional status. Especially sense it's hard to have lady professionals behind the camera. Please tell her story. She deserves that.

[@GoCreativeShow]

I completely understand and agree Halyna’s story needs to be told. We made a decision to focus on the gun safety because the more we understand, the more rules and regulations will change for the better. I also wanted to make sure Go Creative Show wasn’t taking advantage of Halyna’s death to boost viewers. I saw that too much the week following her death. I wanted to make sure we focused on safety, so this never happens again. I hope you can understand and appreciate this decision. Thanks for listening. -Ben

[@srfurley]

It is reported that the armorer was not present in the church building on set when the accident happened. I have read two reasons for this, she had basically two jobs on this production and was called away to perform other duties, and the other was that she was not allowed to enter the church building due to Covid restrictions, presumably social distancing. Assuming that one of these is tru, and she was not present at the time, why were they allowed to work with real weapons on set with no armorer present. I know nothing about guns and have never handled one, but there were several things which happened here which were clearly safe and if I had been on the set I would have called Stop. If there had been an armorer present ‘watching like a hawk’ surely the errors which were made would have been spotted and stopped, the weapon properly checked, and the accident wouldn’t have happened. I think there should be an absolute rule that no real weapons capable of being fired can be used on set without an armorer being present, and I agree that there should be a certification scheme for armorers.

[@GoCreativeShow]

A certification is key absolutely. That is interesting insight Stephen. I appreciate you leaving your thoughts and thanks for listening to the interview. - Ben

[@triamaria]

Great to see someone with absolutely no knowledge of firearms safety reconize this. It's really quite simple.

[@docfischer7291]

And another thing I was thinking .. you’re in the middle of nowhere, people like to shoot. It definitely sounds like the armorer(s) were negligent. That’s a given. To me my thought is you’re going to find that someone had brought live rounds to monkey around with the gun(s) and shoot them when no one is around or on set . I’m sure security, if there was any, would have known who was around off hours. I bet someone got spooked and ran of while they forgot to unload the gun with real live rounds. Besides all that, a 20 year old armorer that learned from a boyfriend and her father ?! Ridiculous all around .

[@GoCreativeShow]

These are great points and questions. I really appreciate your thoughts and interest in this. There is a still a lot unknown obviously. We did this interview months ago and there was even less information then. This is such a tragic story and i hope lessens are learned that prevent this type of thing from happening ever again. I hope you liked the interview and learned some stuff. Appreciate your feedback BEN

[@7armedman]

This guy is really making the rounds trying to make a name...but he keeps talking about gun safety rules and some of course are misused on film sets. Never point a gun at a person? Uh, how do they shoot hostage scenes with guns to heads?

[@jestenrobinson]

Plastic/rubber gun.

[@7armedman]

@@jestenrobinson They look like shit for close ups. Also, chrome guns hmmm? Remember when these guys say never point a gun at a person they're including all of that shit, not just loaded guns.

[@GoCreativeShow]

thanks for watching the interview