Republican introduces gun safety bill after Alec Baldwin accidental shooting

A New Mexico state senator has proposed legislation to increase gun safety and awareness on movie sets after a cinematographer was accidentally shot and killed, allegedly by actor Alec Baldwin on the set of “Rust,” which was filming in the state.

State Sen. Cliff Pirtell, a Republican from Roswell, introduced a bill that would require all film personnel who handle firearms on set to complete a safety course offered by the New Mexico Games and Fish Department.

“We just want to ensure that everyone that’s going to be working around firearms on movie sets and television sets have proper safety training,” said Pirtle. “We want to make sure that everybody has some type of education or training that maybe they can see something and say, ‘Woah, I’ve been trained, no that was not proper, the way that it was handled.'”

The training would be centered around gun-safety basics, like how to properly handle a firearm and make sure it is not loaded, according to the senator.

Senate Bill 188 comes in response to the fatal shooting on the set of “Rust,” where a prop gun being used by Baldwin discharged a live round, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza, who was standing next to her. Pirtle argues that their deaths could have been avoided if the law was in place and everyone involved knew how to handle a gun and check for live rounds.

Pirtle is a strong advocate for guns rights and has handled firearms on film sets acting in minor roles for Western movies, such as "Deadman Standing" in 2018 and "Death Alley" in 2021. Professionally, he is a partner in a farming business.

“Unfortunately, to the Hollywood elite, the talk around guns is all too abstract,” Pirtle said. “This is a simple bill to bring some gravity back to the use of firearms on film sets.”

Baldwin denied pulling the trigger of the gun, telling ABC’s George Stephanopoulos the gun went off after the actor let go of the hammer. Experts have rejected this explanation, given how the revolver model Baldwin handled has a hammer that locks multiple times as it is cocked.

It is unclear if the Democrat-led Legislature would bring the bill up for debate. The current legislative session ends Feb. 17.