The Lasting Impact of the “Rust” Movie Set Shooting

Written by Nefertari Elshiekh.

The fatal shooting on the “Rust” movie set has resulted in many civil and criminal cases and has had far reaching implications throughout Hollywood. 

It has been just over three years since a prop gun killed cinematographer Haylna Hutchins on the film set of “Rust” in New Mexico. Several people involved with the movie production faced criminal and civil liability for the shooting, including Alec Baldwin, the star and producer of “Rust.” Baldwin had the prop gun in his hand when it fired, but he claims the gun went off without him firing it.

In July 2024, Baldwin’s criminal case, where he was charged with involuntary manslaughter, was dismissed with prejudice due to withheld evidence. Baldwin’s lawyers argued the state buried the fact that the live rounds came from the prop supplier and not the film’s armorer. Prosecutors asked the judge to reconsider, but on October 25, Judge Sommer of the First Judicial District Court of New Mexico ruled that Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter case will not be reopened. Yet, this ruling is hardly the end of this tragedy as civil cases are still pending, and broader gun safety changes within Hollywood and the film industry are still actively being discussed. 

In addition to the criminal case, Hutchins’ widow and son filed a wrongful death suit against Baldwin and other “Rust” producers, which settled in October 2022. According to the New York Times, one of the terms of the settlement was making Hutchins’ husband an executive producer of the film, allowing the family to benefit from the film’s profits. Other terms, including the specific monetary payment, have not been released, but “Rust” is behind on their scheduled settlement payments.

Beyond the wrongful death suit, Hutchins’ parents, sister, and “Rust” script supervisor filed a suit against Baldwin alleging infliction of emotional distress, assault, and battery, along with a negligence claim against Baldwin and others involved in the “Rust” production. “Rust” crew members, including the movie’s gaffer and key medic, have also filed negligence suits against the production. The key medic settled for $1.5 million. 

The armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, as the person responsible for firearm safety on set, has also filed her own civil suit. Reed is suing the movie’s ammunition supplier, alleging the supplier gave both dummy rounds and live ammunition when it was only supposed to give dummy rounds. In March 2024 a jury found Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced her to 18 months in prison. 

Due to the shooting, the New Mexico Environmental Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau (NM OHSB) issued “Rust” the maximum fine of $136,793 for gun safety failures under New Mexico law and a “willful” citation, the highest level of citation, for violations that led to an “avoidable death.” A report conducted by the NM OHSB noted that “Rust” failed to give staff enough time to inspect the ammunition and ensure there were not any live rounds.

Although there had been two previous gun misfires on the set, little to no action was taken in response. In addition, the team responsible for on-set weapons was small and had limited resources. 

Hutchins’ death has led the film industry to rethink how they use guns in their films. While current industry practice includes using real guns on set, should they consider using replicas instead? Should productions use blank fire (which is a shell casing that does not have a bullet) or special effects? At least one TV show has answered these questions. “Walker” has banned real guns on set in light of the “Rust” tragedy, and decided to use special effects to replicate the sounds of gunfire instead.

However, others in the industry have continued to use real guns not only because they are more realistic, but also because they believe them to be safe. Some in the industry believe the “Rust” shooting was an outlier which could have been prevented had standard safety protocols been followed. Nevertheless, even if individuals in the industry want to continue to use real guns, there is significant pressure from stakeholders such as insurance companies, union representatives, lawmakers, and major studios to not do so. In one instance, insurance companies have refused to cover low-budget films that use real guns on set.

There have also been conversations amongst union representatives and major studios to potentially modify the documents that govern firearm use on sets. Those documents include Safety Bulletins No. 1, which lays out safety recommendations and training for using firearms, blanks, and dummy rounds on set, and No. 2, which prohibits live ammunition except for certain, limited situations. These Safety Bulletins are written by the Industry-Wide Labor-Management Safety Committee and had previously been revised twenty years ago. 

In July of 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom codified Safety Bulletins No. 1 and No. 2, which had previously been voluntary, now requiring all productions in California to adhere to those guidelines. Furthermore, following the shooting, New York and California have introduced bills that would ban live ammunition on sets.

There have also been legislative attempts to restrict firearms on sets. California lawmakers initially proposed banning real firearms on sets. However, due to intense industry opposition, the California legislature instead passed a law that requires any production receiving industry tax credits to have safety advisers and firearms training.

Despite attempts to restrict firearm usage, that does not change the fact that live ammunition was not supposed to be on the “Rust” set as industry and union guidelines prohibit live ammunition on movie sets. Reed said she brought dummy rounds, which look like real bullets but cannot be fired, on set. Despite this, five live rounds were found on set in addition to the live round that killed Hutchins.

Moreover, armorers have also expressed that they are seeing fewer opportunities due to an increase in demand for real gun alternatives. Steven Leek, who specializes in one alternative—gas-powered guns—had seen an increase in demand even before the “Rust” shooting. The action movie “Hypnotic” had a completely computer-generated gunfire scene. After the incident, Baldwin had even gone so far to advocate for removing all ammunition on sets. He said, “No blanks, no dummies and, of course, no live rounds.”

While Hutchins’ death is a tragedy, it is not the first gun-related death on a movie set. In 1984, Jon-Erik Hexum died after he shot himself in the head with a gun filled with blanks while on the set of a CBS series. In 1993, Brandon Lee was killed after a bullet was lodged in the barrel of the gun used on the set for “The Crow.” 

Despite calls for legislative reform of firearm safety and protocols on sets following the shooting, so far most of the changes have happened sporadically and individually, with isolated actions often brought by individual groups, companies, or agencies. For instance, individual producers have decided to ban firearms or adjust safety protocols on their sets. But conversations with respect to legislation are still ongoing, so there remains hope that more widespread reform will come from this tragedy in the future.