TIM BOUCHER RAW!

I was recently made ‘gun wrangler’ for the next show that I’ll be running crew on. I had never fired a gun before. And maybe you could say I still haven’t – depending on your definition of “gun” and “firing.”

“We don’t call them bullets,” the Fight Master explained. “We call them blanks.”

The difference is the projectile element. The way a gun works, basically, is that a firing pin is rapidly driven into the rear of a brass cartridge, causing explosive gas to be ejected from the casing. With a gun that fires bullets, the gases from the explosion propel the bullet down the shaft of the barrel. The blank firing guns we use, semi-automatic pistols, are different. Their barrels are plugged at manufacture and gases escape through the top of the gun.

The main piece I’m using is a Walther P22 S and looks like this:

The back-up, in case that one misfires and I can’t correct it in time for the next gun cue, is a Smith & Wesson SW1911 S.

All of my firing is done backstage according to a cue light operated by the stage manager who is watching the show in the booth at the rear of the house. She watches the action onstage and uses the cue lights to deliver timing messages at pre-determined points throughout the show. She syncs up the action on-stage with the technicians backstage and operating lights and sound. It’s a complicated enough job as it is, which is why on a show that involves the use of firearms, typically one person will be put in charge of the care of the weapons.

The less people who have access to weapons in a stage environment the better. The less chances for accidents and unauthorized use. Stage weapons, you see, still look like real weapons. Though the barrel is visibly plugged, robberies could still be easily accomplished with such a piece – especially if the weapon was fired. That shit is loud and shocking if you’re not ready for it.

I wear ear protection, plastic over the ear headphones I also use with power saws while working in the shop. The rest of the crew backstage knows to put earplugs of their own in just before we reach that cue.

At the top of the show, I get the guns from locked cabinets (blanks are stored separately) and load both clips. I wait until about 3 minutes before the first big gun cue comes up in the show, load both clips into their respective pistols, and chamber a round. That is, I pull back the slide, cocking the weapon, bringing a blank up into the line of action of the firing pin. The hammer is drawn back.

“Treat these as though they were real guns.”

Good advice.

Because, for all intents and purposes, it is a real gun. And what does that mean? A gun, if you look at it logically, is a type of tool. It is a machine designed for a specific purpose. And that purpose is not “killing” as a lot of people like to think. That purpose is to fire a round. If its a blank firing gun, firing a blank round is its purpose. If its a regular gun, a projectile round is fired. But either way, you’re utilizing the same set of behaviors and techniques when you operate the equipment. So, even though you’re not firing a bullet, you should act as though you are. Because if you ever use a real gun, and you’ve built up a set of behaviors based around using only blank guns that you know won’t hurt people, then you’re going to do a lot of fucking stupid and intensely dangerous things.

Main rule: never point it at anyone. Whether or not its loaded, whether or not there’s a round in the chamber or any in the clip. Even if you know for 100% certain there’s no chance of any projectile being fired, you *just don’t do it*. I’ve read theatre websites saying that you shouldn’t even fire a blank gun at someone on stage. You always are supposed to point it up-stage of them. Supposedly the audience can’t tell the difference. I don’t have any experience firing weapons onstage though, so you’ll have to accept that as hearsay for right now.

Second rule, you don’t hold the gun with your finger on the trigger unless you are in the act of firing. You rest your index finger on the metal part that comes down from the barrel and connects with the handle. That way, if you accidentally squeeze or something surprises you, or you slip or any number of a million possible variables, you don’t end up firing without intending to.

This isn’t just a good rule with guns either. We use it in my chess class. You don’t touch a piece on the board unless you’re going to move that piece. Once you touch a piece, you have to move it. Once you let your hand off the piece, you have to leave it there. No takebacks. In working with guns, that is compressed into the split-second motion of pulling a trigger. No takebacks. If you’re in a show firing blank rounds, you fire too soon or too late and you won’t be synced up with the action. If you’re out in the real world firing live bullets, well the consequences could be significantly greater.

At the end of each performance, my last responsibility is unloading and cleaning both blank-firing pistols and both un-loaded non-firing period revolvers used onstage. Since guns are precision instruments, machines built to exactly specifications, you have to make certain that you keep them under optimal operating conditions.

This is a subject I’m hoping to gain more experience in during my theatrical career. And I think gun safety is a great topic in general. Guns have this ridiculous mystique built around them (thanks, in part, to film incidentally!) that becomes almost superstitious. Actually learning how to handle a gun appropriately and effectively removes a lot of the untruths that are built up around the subject and teaches multi-level situational awareness, as well as an appreciation for fine machines and their maintenance. Nevermind the practical benefits of learning how to shoot, for example at a range, increases one’s ability to focus one’s will and action, being able to operate under conditions stressful (to our animal bodies) with skillful precision. A man who can shoot is a man who can hit the mark in Life in so many other ways. Used appropriately, it can become a tool for mastering yourself and harmonizing one’s actions and relationships. We must learn how to handle anger and violence, not through avoidance, but through channeling these natural instincts into socially-appropriate situations where we can be clear-eyed about our actions and motives.

Reminds me of a remark I heard recently, while studying at a nearby chess academy: an older lady was dismissive towards the game:

“Chess is a war game,” she said. An understandable viewpoint. The game, after all, depicts two armies lined up to do battle. The game of chess doesn’t encourage violence though. It replaces it. It channels it into an outlet where one can sit down, look at one’s actions and their consequences and see the results played out in front of them. They don’t have to get out there on the actual battlefield. The microcosm is right there in front of them.

Before I sign off, thought I’d share two of the better links I rounded up on the subject of gun safety in theatre. Enjoy!

• On the prop use of firearms written by a stage weapon rental company my summer theatre uses
• Guns on stage

• Small Town Theatre Restoration Project
• Essential Writings
• Virginia Declaration of Rights
• Non-Violent Resistance Against Robots
• Returning to Cape Cod Summer Stock as Scenic Designer/Technical Director