I’m an NRA-certified instructor with over 45 years of experience with firearms, a combat shooting champion, and a firearm collector.
My experience as an actor is a plus; I'm comfortable working with actors, actresses, and everything that is going on in a set; my quiet and patient personality has made even women feel comfortable with me when I'm teaching them to handle firearms.
Props and special effects are not armorers; they may have a little notion of firearms but that's not enough; even blanks can be deadly; do not put the guns in the wrong hands.
Real guns provide authenticity for actors as well as the scene; special effects don’t look that good if you know what real gunshots look like; Actors want something in their hands that is going to fire and help their performance.
An on-set movie armorer is a must to provide a safe environment for everyone on set; to advise the actors to better fake the reactions, and to achieve the kind of realistic gun handling that today's filmgoers require.