Her job was to HELPmake sure no one got shot.
FIFY
The industry protocols, just like the NRA and Cooper's rules for safe handling of firearms, establish overlapping standards which
should prevent an accidental/negligent shooting even in the event that one step is overlooked. In this instance, multiple steps were overlooked and violated by multiple people. It was not
solely the job of the armorer to make sure no one got shot.
So far, I don't think we know who loaded the gun, or when or where it was loaded. We DO know that the industry protocol was for the armorer to load it
IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AND THE ACTOR WHO WOULD BE HANDLING THE GUN, physically shaking each round before loading it so that all three people could verify that the rounds were dummies. That didn't happen here. It was the AD's and Baldwin's joint responsibility to ensure that this protocol was followed. The AD has already made a plea deal. Baldwin continues to deny any responsibility.
Several [apparently all loaded] revolvers were left on a cart, unattended, on the set while Guttierez-Reed was not allowed on that part of the set, allegedly due either to COVID restrictions, or because they had her doing unrelated assistant prop master duties elsewhere on the set. The AD just grabbed one of those unattended guns and pronounced it a "cold gun" without making any attempt to verify its condition. As noted, he has already been convicted. Baldwin accepted the gun, also making no effort or attempt to verify its condition, even though it was obvious that the armorer wasn't present and that the gun had not been loaded in accordance with the safety protocols.
There's plenty of blame to go around. It was clearly not her fault alone. I feel that most of the responsibility and liability belong on Baldwin, both because it was ultimately he who pointed a loaded gun at a person and pulled the trigger, and also because it was his responsibility as producer to ensure that safety protocols were followed.
