Alec Baldwin fatally shoots woman with prop gun on movie set (bbc.co.uk)

Prop guns can be lethal. Brandon Lee, the son of Bruce Lee, died while filming The Crow.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Lee

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crow_(1994_film)

Horrible accident but I don't get it. Why was it loaded. Why did the gun even work. Don't they just use empty guns made from plastic? so many questions.

If I were an actor, I would always want the gun to be fired before the shooting(!) starts. Seems like a nobrainer.

edit: If I was present