(NewsNation Now) — Actor Alec Baldwin is calling on production companies in Hollywood to hire more police officers on all film and television sets that use guns.
“Every film/TV set that uses guns, fake or otherwise, should have a police officer on set, hired by the production, to specifically monitor weapons safety,” Baldwin wrote on Twitter and posted to Instagram on Monday.
Baldwin’s statement comes after his involvement in the accidental shooting on the Western movie set “Rust” last month in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The 63-year-old actor fired a gun while rehearsing for a scene, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
However, many fans are slamming Baldwin for the concept. They say the responsibility does not belong to police officers, but it belongs to the armorer on the film set.
Traditionally, the armorer has the responsibility of managing all firearms used on set, to ensure that they are appropriate for the setting of the film and that they look realistic.
The armorer must also make sure that the weapons are clean, properly kept, correctly loaded and safely handled.
Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer for the movie “Rust,” said she had inspected the rounds in the gun Baldwin fired before assistant director Dave Halls handed it to Baldwin on set.
Investigators are still trying to figure out which crew members are at fault for this incident.
Last week, actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson announced that real guns would no longer be used on sets for his movies.