what a waste of a human life...and for nothing. I'm surprised that ultra liberal Hollywood hasn't already done something meaningful...

Having "non-guns only" on set would have resulted in NO deaths there.

This was a low-budget film, and I am 100% sure they rented these guns from a prop-house. I have no doubt they rented the cheapest they could get that looked sufficiently real.

It's possible to use a real gun safely in such circumstances. I was a re-enactor for a couple decades. All my firearms were "real" firearms. I've never been at an event where anyone was injured by someone accidentally shooting live rounds. We had extremely strict rules about it. No live ammo allowed on-site, AT ALL. All ammo inspected before the event. Anyone violating the no-live-ammo rule was ejected from the event, and complete reinspection performed. That only happened once. The violator inadvertently bought some live ammo to the event and noticewd it himself, but the rules are extremely clear, and non-negotiable.

Only "ammo" allowed on property are blanks. When I do weapon demonstrations, I don't even have blanks on the table/accessible. The "Rust" safety violations were sooo many, though, only a non-gun would have been the solution. Seems nobody on set was really safety conscious. And, that's the FIRST job of the armorer and the 1st AD.

Her bahaviors practically guaranteed an accident in the abscene of non-guns.

Low experience. (Cheap?)
Having/allowing live ammo for prop guns on location (After-hours live shooting near filming area.)
Not sorting blank/live/dud ammo, and keeping live under lock and key. (Although, no live should have been on set AT ALL.)
Being assigned other duties, not on weapon cart when needed (Producer error, "cheap" winning out again.)

She is PRIMARILY at fault, but the whole process involves others, as well.

from footsteps, to doors closing, to cars starting so why not gunfire? And frankly, realistic gunfire. We are swimming in guns and quite often at mass shootings people don’t realize a gun is firing unless they’ve been around guns before. As you know, movie gunfire doesn’t sound anything like the pop pop of actual gunfire.

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-a-foley-artist/

Is to produce exact replicas with modifications to the chambers that don't allow live ammo to enter. Then you never need to worry if a gun had been loaded with real ammo at any point because it is physically impossible.

My guess on why not is cost.

That's why Baldwin had the gun pointed toward the camera. A prop "fake" gun that needed that effect, could be made with permanent "live" rounds seen from the front, with 100% safety.

Something that would disintegrate on firing but look real enough. Or would atleast not have enough weight to hit with force of it did hit.

Don't need a solid projectile to make it look and function realistically.

I'm talking about a non-gun revolver with permanent "bullets" in the non-usable chambers that make the revolver "look" fully loaded from the front, with absolutely NO "firing" involved. We have the technology. We can do better. As far as the arguments about "costs" go, how much will a wrongful death payout be? Could buy 1,000's non-guns for that...

The movie won't be made if the result to financial backers is threatened that seriously. They will not want to finance a film with those costs or find a way it can be avoided.

I can't believe that audiences are that stupid, either...

Why I think real guns were used. Just cheaper to get.

Not agreeing with the idea of using them.

Shouldn't be a big price difference from the prop rental dept. Would save on death payouts, so cheaper in the long run.

Looks real, ejects cartridges and has recoil/muzzle flip... just add the gunshot sounds in post-editing.

They said directors balk at the cost and say the sound of shots on the set elicit better responses from actors.

For some guns there are good simulators. For others, there are not.
I habe a pellet gun I use for plinking that could pass for a real gun from a few yards away... but it would not appear real in a close-up.

Anyone remember Jon-Erik Hexum? Was the gun he was fiddling with real or a prop gun? Blanks were in it, but it made no difference at close range.

Having competent people handling the guns, and only getting them into an actor's hand when needed, and loaded appropriately is the key.

Does anyone think Rust will ever be released?

It should NEVER be in an actor's hand! And I'll bet SAG has a few words to say about THAT....

Authentic period correct guns are often used, particularly for up close scenes, with replicas in the background. Same reason they try to create period correct attire.

For a LOT of scenes, replicas, particularly rubber replicas are used. If someone falls, intentionally for the scene or accidentally, injury is reduced.

CGI tends to be more expensive.

He was clowning around, not knowing that firing a blank still has the force of the muzzle blast. He put it to his temple and fired, forcing a quarter sized piece of his skull into his brain.

He even took all the blanks out except one, spun the cylinder and put it to his temple. After a few days, he was declared brain dead. His mother gave permission for his organs to be donated.

Whenever you pick up a gun, you expect and treated as being loaded. Until you clear it yourself. It doesn't matter if a person just before you cleared the gun. Every time you pick up a gun, you clear it.

If after you have cleared the gun, only point the gun at something you mean to destroy. When I am home, after clearing my pistol, I let the slide go forward while pointed at the bed and them pull the trigger. Luckily I have yet to kill a mattress.

and go, "pew pew pew" and I would be just fine with it. It is a representation of something that causes great harm, I don't need to actually have it out there in my face.

The real place between me and accidents like this is that it must be realistic so it IS real but the stops to causing harm need tons of checking. So why? Why do we need that much reality? It is easy now a days to make something look just perfect so why?