Baldwin says he never pulled the trigger. Experts are skeptical.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

{editing}

Fact Checker • Analysis

Baldwin says he never pulled the trigger. Experts are skeptical.

By Glenn Kessler
The Fact Checker
Today at 3:00 a.m. EST

“Then I let go of the hammer of the gun, and the gun goes off.”

— actor Alec Baldwin, in an interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos, Dec. 2 (1)

In his first interview since the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the film set of a western called “Rust,” Baldwin said that he had started to cock the gun and released the hammer but that “I never pulled the trigger.”

His story has been backed by an attorney for “Rust” assistant director Dave Halls. “Dave has told me since the very first day I met him that Alec did not pull that trigger,” Lisa Torraco told ABC News. “His finger was never in the trigger guard.”

But several gun experts increasingly say this scenario does not make sense unless there was a serious mechanical defect with the gun — which should have been obvious before it was used.

{snip}

Sheriff Adan Mendoza of Santa Fe County told Fox News that the department is awaiting results from the FBI on how the gun could have been fired. But he was also skeptical about Baldwin’s statement. “Guns don’t just go off,” Mendoza said. “So whatever needs to happen to manipulate the firearm, he did that, and it was in his hands.”

{snip}

By Glenn Kessler
Glenn Kessler has reported on domestic and foreign policy for more than three decades. Send him statements to fact check by emailing him, tweeting at him, or sending him a message on Facebook. Twitter https://twitter.com/GlennKesslerWP

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[Rocknation]

1. I think it would be more useful to concentrate on

how a live round got into a prop gun in the first place.


Rocknation

[jimfields33]

2. I think it would have been more useful for him to not give the interview

At all or at least a few years from now when all the courtroom stuff is over.

[Rocknation]

5. Right: this is a case of "Guns don't kill

Last edited Wed Dec 8, 2021, 12:57 PM - Edit history (1)

bullets do."


Rocknation

[Ray Bruns]

3. Agreed. As I understand it, live ammunitions is not even allowed on set.

[Thomas Hurt]

4. Single action old west revolvers have to be cocked before they fire. If someone handed him a loaded

and cocked revolver then it is plausible I suppose. But that would mean, that on top of all else they handed him a seriously damaged revolver and him just handling it triggered it.

[WHITT]

6. He Has Three Witnesses

One contemporaneous, and two second-hand.

[SeattleVet]

7. It's a single-action revolver.

If you don't pull back the hammer fully to it's locked position (some have two detents - one for half-cocked and one for full) and then release it, it will fall with enough force to fire the round. No trigger needed.

The more modern ones have additional safeties to prevent this from happening as easily.

[LisaL]

8. He says he pulled the hammer back.

So, it seems plausible the gun went off after he released the hammer, even if he didn't pull the trigger.

[SeattleVet]

9. Exactly.

Still doesn't excuse the gross violation of all of the other protocols that were violated, though. There were several failures that led to the incident. If any one had been done properly the chain would have been broken and the tragedy avoided.

[gfwzig]

10. they quit making single action guns because they could go off if your thumb slips while cocking

I had an old Winchester lever action that is like the one on "rifleman" it supposedly was "safe" well, (thank god I was alone) in the middle of the forest. my thumb slipped and it fired. Don't tell me it was carelessness, (I was 13) because that's what the NRA song and dance is, it was an inexperienced user on a gun that was quite frankly ,poorly designed, newer guns like the asshole experts "demonstrate" have an improved safety that blocks the firing pin without the trigger being pulled. old guns do not... the real question that has not been answered is "Did someone intentionally load the gun with a live round to get even with him because of his impressions of a certain Punkinhead politician with a cult following?"