Hollywood’s love of guns increases risk of shootings — both on and off the set

IN WHAT APPEARS to be a tragic accident, actor Alec Baldwin shot dead a cinematographer on Thursday while discharging a prop gun on set in New Mexico.

It is too early to speculate what went wrong during the filming of the Western movie “Rust.” But the incident, in which the film’s director was also injured, highlights a simple fact: Guns are commonplace in Hollywood films.