The death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and the injury of director Joel Souza require thorough investigation. But this is what we know so far.

A shoestring budget was not enough. Rushed production was not enough. Tired crew were not enough. A careless armorer, careless assistant director, and careless actor were not enough. No, to make it likely that death and injury would result, they had to add impractical, unrealistic, dangerous Covid protocols dreamed up by people who knew little about epidemiology, and even less about movie-set safety.

The armorer was responsible for maintaining the guns and their safe handling. But reportedly, she was put into a different Covid group than the cast and top crew. So she and the guns she was responsible for had to remain outside the building where filming was occurring. Even the Three Stooges would know this was a dangerously idiotic plan.

Then they broke for lunch. The armorer claims the guns were locked up, but the ammunition was not. But others claim some crew members took one or more of the guns for “plinking,” informal target shooting in the nearby desert. They then returned the gun(s) without checking that all live ammunition was removed. When the sheriff’s deputies searched the scene, they found unsecured live ammunition, as well as blanks and dummy rounds.

But none – repeat, none – of this would be at all likely to have happened if the armorer and the guns and ammunition were located in the building. The armorer would be there to personally hand the gun to Alec Baldwin, and personally check that it was either unloaded, or loaded with dummy rounds.

Question: If impractical, dangerous Covid regulations could result in death and injury on a movie set, how many other deaths and injuries have they caused throughout the nation? How many doctors, nurses, medical techs, police officers, firefighters, EMTs, and other essential personnel were not available for work? How many were fired or put on involuntary leave when they were desperately needed? How much essential equipment was unavailable or difficult to access, as it was on the movie set?

Suppose big pharma touted a new drug by emphasizing its beneficial effects while totally ignoring its harmful side-effects. We would condemn it in harsh terms. But is this not precisely what the Covid Consortium has been doing? From lockdowns to firing the unvaccinated, we never hear the least suggestion from the submissive media that there might, just possibly, be negative effects.

Loaded guns aren’t the only things that can kill or injure us. Thoughtless, impractical, arbitrary regulations can kill or injure us just as well.