[Livia]

Firing blanks is dangerous. You still have the case and the gunpowder so you still get an explosion so there’s a realistic flash, but anything in the barrel is fired out at velocity, maybe a piece of the case or something that’s entered the barrel accidentally. It’s a risky business. Films like this have armourers to look after the guns so for one not to have been checked or a real bullet slipping through seems unlikely to me. In any case, it’s a bloody tragedy. Can’t imagine how Alec Baldwin feels right now.