A prop gun discharged by Alec Baldwin killed a film crew member on set, sheriff says

[Palmfever]

My understanding is, he was pointing the weapon at the camera because they wanted to record the flash of the shot for the movie. If the weapon had been loaded with a blank, it would have been fine. He wasn't fooling around with it, it was a staged shot for the picture.

Secondly, most actors don't know squat about firearms---it is the job of the armorers and the safety people on any given production to make sure the weapon is safe to fire before they hand it to an actor before a scene. In this particular case, somebody failed to do that. A weapon that had not been properly cleared was given to Baldwin to point at the camera and fire, and tragedy ensued.

Somebody messed up, yes; but I don't believe it was Baldwin who was at fault.

You can get the flash from blanks.

Baldwin, 63, fired a prop gun that killed Halyna Hutchins, 42, and injured the film’s director, Joel Souza, on the “Rust” set in Santa Fe, NM, on Thursday.

For safety, all live firearms used in TV and film productions are typically aimed at a dummy point, not at equipment, cast or crew, Carpenter noted. Guns, he said, are never aimed at a person. You never let the muzzle of a weapon cover something you don’t intend to destroy,” said Carpenter, whose New Orleans-based firm has worked on the sets of scores of TV and film productions. “All guns are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.”
More https://nypost.com/2021/10/23/baldwin-ignored-no-1-rule-of-gun-safety-hollywood-weapons-expert/