Never point a weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot.
Keep your weapon on safe until you intend to shoot.
Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.
If you break three of the four rules, the worst you're going to get is an ass-chewing.
You have to break all four at the same time to harm anyone inadvertently.
And yet still, there are homicides every fucking day because people couldn't be bothered to handle weapons safely.
#1 covers everything. If you assume a weapon is loaded until you have verified it is not, you cannot accidentally shoot anyone.
#2 covers everything. If the weapon is not pointed at anything other than the ground, you cannot shoot anyone.
#3 covers everything assuming the safety mechanism(s) actually work. Even if you're acting like a damned fool, and pointing a firearm in an unsafe direction, if the weapon mechanically cannot fire, the worst you're going to do is commit assault by pointing.
#4 covers everything, assuming the firearm cannot fire itself and requires the trigger to be pulled.
Sometimes, there's a #5 - know your target and what lies beyond it - which might have helped the survivor in this case, but it really only applies to when you intend to fire, unlike the first four, which are there to make sure every discharge of a firearm is intended, #5 is there to make sure every discharge has the intended consequences.
The bigger failure was the both the production company(s) not rigorously enforcing redundant safety standards (cast+crew double checking weaponry after the armorer), and crew not reporting unsafe conduct to a regulatory body or insurance company, if there was a mechanism with real consequences to do so. Frankly, the film industry should require firearm competence certification for anyone handling a gun or realistic prop. All the above are much more important than the 2nd rule by itself.
Rule number fucking two of basic firearm safety: Don't point at anything you don't intend to destroy.
How about rule one, treat every gun like it's loaded?
That's the point of the rules. They overlap.
If you break three of the four rules, the worst you're going to get is an ass-chewing.
You have to break all four at the same time to harm anyone inadvertently.
And yet still, there are homicides every fucking day because people couldn't be bothered to handle weapons safely.
#1 covers everything. If you assume a weapon is loaded until you have verified it is not, you cannot accidentally shoot anyone.
#2 covers everything. If the weapon is not pointed at anything other than the ground, you cannot shoot anyone.
#3 covers everything assuming the safety mechanism(s) actually work. Even if you're acting like a damned fool, and pointing a firearm in an unsafe direction, if the weapon mechanically cannot fire, the worst you're going to do is commit assault by pointing.
#4 covers everything, assuming the firearm cannot fire itself and requires the trigger to be pulled.
Sometimes, there's a #5 - know your target and what lies beyond it - which might have helped the survivor in this case, but it really only applies to when you intend to fire, unlike the first four, which are there to make sure every discharge of a firearm is intended, #5 is there to make sure every discharge has the intended consequences.
The bigger failure was the both the production company(s) not rigorously enforcing redundant safety standards (cast+crew double checking weaponry after the armorer), and crew not reporting unsafe conduct to a regulatory body or insurance company, if there was a mechanism with real consequences to do so. Frankly, the film industry should require firearm competence certification for anyone handling a gun or realistic prop. All the above are much more important than the 2nd rule by itself.