Question: Firearms on Stage in the UK

[FierceKitty]

Is there some sort of regulation that you have to point a stage prop pistol at the floor when pretending to shoot someone of stage in Britain? If so, why, in the name of Dionysos?

[Orcs]

The only reason for that I can think of would be if it fired blanks and you were going to discharge it. A Blank being able to cause injury at close range.

On the only occasion that I have been involved with a play using firearms that needed to discharged on stage. The director in the wings fired a starting pistol at the appropriate moment into the air.

[Hertsblue]

You may find something of interest here, FK. The author is a professional fight director in the entertainment industry. In his opinion theatrical firearms should be treated exactly the same as real weapons.

http://www.fightdirector.com/regulations.html

[nikharwood]

The only reason for that I can think of would be if it fired blanks and you were going to discharge it. A Blank being able to cause injury at close range.

Don't blank-firing weapons discharge from somewhere other than the end of the barrel? [ie to the side or below the weapon] - in which case, you can point it at the 'target' but you'd need to make sure there was no-one else in the line of fire...

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Erm Yes and no. A starting pistol fires vertically, realy weapon fires as normal. If it's an auto and you want automatic fire then you need either a Blank fire attachment or bulleted blank. Brens used to be issued with that and a "masher" barrel, dangerous to 50m !

IanS

[nikharwood]

Erm Yes and no. A starting pistol fires vertically, realy weapon fires as normal. If it's an auto and you want automatic fire then you need either a Blank fire attachment or bulleted blank. Brens used to be issued with that and a "masher" barrel, dangerous to 50m !

IanS

Yeah - but those weren't theatrical blank-firing weapons, which is what I'm talking about...