Back in the 1980s, actor Jon-Erik Hexum accidentally killed himself on the set of the TV show Cover Up.Excaliber wrote:The use of blanks at close range can also cause very serious injury and should not have been even considered under the circumstances described.
Everyone involved in planning or approving this tragedy was woefully negligent and likely ignorant.
And then there's the tragic but stupid case of Brandon Lee's death from a .44 thought to be loaded with blanks.On October 12, 1984, the cast and crew of Cover Up were filming the seventh episode of the series, "Golden Opportunity", on Stage 17 of the 20th Century Fox lot. One of the scenes filmed that day called for Hexum's character to load bullets into a .44 Magnum handgun, so he was provided with a functional real gun and live blanks. When the scene did not play as the director wanted it to play in the master shot, there was a delay in filming. Hexum became restless and impatient during the delay and began playing around to lighten the mood. Apparently, he had unloaded all but one (blank) round, spun it, and, apparently simulating Russian roulette with what he thought was a harmless weapon, at 5:15 p.m., he put the revolver to his right temple and pulled the trigger.
Hexum was apparently unaware that his actions were dangerous. Blanks use paper or plastic wadding to seal gunpowder into the cartridge, and this wadding is propelled from the barrel of the gun with enough force to cause injury if the weapon is fired within a few feet of the body should it strike at a particularly vulnerable spot, such as the temple or the eye. At a close enough range, the effect of the powder gasses is similar to a small explosion so although the paper wadding in the blank that Hexum discharged did not penetrate his skull, there was enough blunt force trauma to shatter a quarter-sized piece of his skull and propel the pieces into his brain, causing massive hemorrhaging.
Late SEAL Team 6 member Adam Brown lost his dominant right eye to a simmunition round during training because he turned his attention away for a split second from what was in front of him, and the round got past the ballistic lenses he was wearing and pulped his eyeball.
This stuff is serious, and to the extent that any of us lets our attention wander for a moment while we are either gun in hand, or around others who have a gun in hand, we risk lead poisoning.