The Issue: Involuntary manslaughter charges brought against Alec Baldwin for an on-set shooting in 2021.
Everyone who handles a gun (prop or not) should understand how they work (“Baldwin ‘to blame,’ ” Jan. 20).
Giving Alec Baldwin’s story the benefit of the doubt, a trained person knows that it is possible to set off a revolver by cocking back the hammer and releasing it. The impact of the hammer can be the same as pulling the trigger.
All who handle guns should have mandatory gun-safety training. The film industry should demand that. The consequences to all are too severe.
Deirdre Harvey
Valley Stream
I would ask Baldwin: If he had a prop gun and was playing with his own child and decided to point the gun at the child, would he carefully make sure it was not loaded? I think so.
Apparently the same level of caution was not used for another human being, who perished from his shot. He is absolutely responsible for the charges of manslaughter being brought.
Saul Mishaan
Brooklyn
Baldwin would not be my first choice to have lunch with, but I am compelled to argue in his behalf.
Although he will have to bear a charge of involuntary manslaughter, it should be the lesser one as compared the armorer.
Baldwin was handed a loaded gun. I will bet that actors from James Cagney to Clint Eastwood never examined the weapons they used for live rounds.
If I rent a car whose brakes don’t work and I kill someone, I should not bear the primary responsibility. I am not a brake mechanic and Baldwin is not a firearms expert, as witnessed by his claim that he did not fire the gun.
Real restitution will be found in civil court for the loved ones who suffered this terrible loss.
Phil Serpico
Queens
Anyone who handles weapons, whether as law-enforcement, security personnel or for sport, knows that the cardinal rule is that a weapon handed to you is assumed loaded — no matter who tells you it’s not — until you, yourself, check it. Apparently, Baldwin did not do that, and that makes him the responsible party.
No matter how much Baldwin moans and groans and points fingers, as producer he was the one in charge on the set and should have known that there were live rounds out there. That makes him doubly responsible.
It’s time to stop passing the buck, Mr. Baldwin. It already stopped with you.
Dick Mills
Bardonia
Yes, a large part of Baldwin’s problems are rooted in his quintessential hubris.
The death of Halyna Hutchins is a tragedy that absolutely never should have happened.
As the executive producer of this movie, Baldwin had an obligation to ensure that everyone involved was in a safe working environment. He failed miserably in that regard.
Hiring a young and reasonably inexperienced armorer, allowing live rounds of ammunition on the location, ignoring safety complaints from employees who felt compelled to walk off the job, demonstrating a failure to inspect firsthand the firearm he was handed before practicing and then, worst of all, pointing the firearm directly at a human being all add up to culpability, not simply an “accident” as Baldwin contends.
Vincent Ruggiero
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Two things we know about the tragic shooting death of Halyna Hutchins: Baldwin is responsible, and he’ll never serve a day in jail.
As a member of the progressive elite Hollywood fraternity, Baldwin will probably get three months of community service.
If so, he should serve it in one of the armories in New York City where he can learn to properly handle a firearm.
He will do no time, but until the sentencing, it’ll be fun to watch him twist in the wind.
His attorney’s claim that the manslaughter charge is a “terrible miscarriage of justice” is, well, hilarious.
Robert Mangi
Brooklyn
Want to weigh in on today’s stories? Send your thoughts (along with your full name and city of residence) to [email protected]. Letters are subject to editing for clarity, length, accuracy and style.
