In St. George, Utah, a 17-year-old student at Washington County high school died after firing a blank-shooting prop pistol used in the performance of the Oklahoma! musical. Police stated that the gas from the prop can have the same energy as a bullet, which would seem to raise some obvious negligence and product liability issues.
The fired the weapon in the sound booth and was alone at the time.
Prop guns periodically come up in mistaken police shooting, as with the actor here. Indeed, recently police came to this high school after reports of seeing a person carrying a weapon. It turned out to be an actor with the prop gun.
There are a surprising number of actual guns which are mistakenly loaded with real bullets in accidents, as here.
It would seem to be negligent to use a prop that can harm minors in such a performance. Moreover, it would appear easy to acquire a fake gun without a dangerous gas discharge.
For the full story, click here.
My son pulled the same dumb stunt when he was in high school. Appearing in a play that included a scene with a gun, and being the smart-aleck that he was at age 17, he picked up a prop gun and, probably to entertain his friends, put it to his head and pulled the trigger.
Fortunately, he held the gun at such an angle that the blast did no other damage than remove a swath of hair, and left a red trail along the side of his head. Proving to this somewhat astonished parent that even smart kids can do some really dumb things.
I would imagine that the youth would have assumed that the prop gun was not dangerous BECAUSE the adults in charge deemed that it was safe enough for them to use, play with, whatever. Why would anyonne expect a student to second guess what the staff/school had decided was appropriate for school?
As an aside, don’t forget that paint guns can kill at close range.
I remember a “beefcake but dumb as a rock” type actor killing himself with a prop gun in the early 80s. He was on the set, was joking around and put the gun to his head, and pulled the trigger even as people were yelling at him to stop. He was probably thinking “good one!” at the panicked reaction to his actions, not realizing that they might know just a little bit more than him.
On this specific case — the kid was 17 (minor), but in Utah there’s a good chance he’s been exposed to gun safety training over the years. He should have definitely been given gun safety training early and often during rehearsals. He would probably face charges as an adult if he killed somebody during the commission of a felony. It’s tragic, but given all of that I can’t see anyone but the school, maybe, being on the hook.
“Far as product liability goes; I don’t buy it. Pure assumption of the risk; you’re never supposed to hold the barrel of a gun (capable of firing real bullets or blanks) at anything you’re not prepared to destroy.”
I couldn’t agree more, Bob!! Very well said, the kid is old enough to know better
Odd. I remember when Freddie Prinze killed himself and there was initially some talk that he used a prop gun; that he never intended to kill himself. And for some reason I never forgot the side interviews with gun experts who said that a prop gun could have killed him if that was what he used.
Far as product liability goes; I don’t buy it. Pure assumption of the risk; you’re never supposed to hold the barrel of a gun (capable of firing real bullets or blanks) at anything you’re not prepared to destroy.