Friday, October 22, 2021

Props or Not

 The 72 hour rule applies in the tragic shooting we read about this morning on a movie set.

It was a western movie, and I'm not sure what a prop gun is, but I know re-enactors, and they generally use black cartridges, either home made or commercial 5-in-1 blanks designed to be used in period firearms.

I know re-enactors who tell me that the safety protocols on their sets are very strict,, usually wit multiple layers of eyes on firearms and ammunition to make sure that there are no issues.  But, sometimes issues come up.

Last year in Kansas, a re-enactor was shot during gun play at a living history museum.

We'll be at a Cowboy Shoot tomorrow, and I'm sure that this incident, and others will factor into the palaver around the cleaning tables.  They call them plays (screen play, stage play), but sometimes the guns are real, owned by prop companies. Fully capable of firing standard ammunition.

Belle and I play the Cowboy games, but we also love shooting standard ammunition.  Belle is a .32 caliber aficionado, and I love them all, but we made a decision when we started playing Cowboy games.  We would only use .45 Colt revolvers and we would never  buy any standard ammunition in .45 Colt.  If the sons or grandkids want to shoot standard ammunition, we can take them out an shoot everything from .22LR to .44 magnum, but never .45 Colt.

It's too easy to make a mistake, and impossible to undo that mistake.

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