Weapon Safety on Set: Advice from a Working Armorer

[bountyhunter]

I had a chance to read some posts on weapons, blanks and general safety questions and concerns.
I decided to post my 2-cents worth on this important subject.

I have worked on sets as armorer for several shows and films over the past few years and safety is the main concern for anyone who is around guns.
Face it:

Blanks can Kill.

Period.

If you do not know how to properly use blanks then spend the extra money and get someone who does.
(maybe a local officer who has a day off would be willing to help)

Do not load your own blanks unless you know what you are doing.



I have a clip posted on "On The Lot" from a weapons safety film we are producing.
It shows what a blank can do.

No matter if you like to believe what you see and hear, blanks can kill.
Ear and Eye protection is also a must.

Thanks for reading, if this helps just one person to not get hurt, then I have succeeded.

 

[BenB]

There are more than one or two famous actors over the years killed by blanks.

 

[retrofilms]

I recently used firearms in my last project but they were of the much safer variety. In fact I wrote a blog post about it that can be found here:



The nicest part is that no one has yet to detect that I'm "faking it", which is the ultimate compliment, of course.