A Theatrical Firearms Safety Expert was on with CNN this morning and actually demonstrated and explained, via a similar six-shooter, that when Alec Baldwin says he didn’t pull the trigger it doesn’t add up:
This is actually a really helpful explanation of what Baldwin was trying to claim last night about the gun he used to shoot #HalynaHutchins pic.twitter.com/NlzM8e4VJX
— Nora Neus (@noraneus) December 3, 2021
Baldwin claimed that he only pulled the hammer back, but didn’t pull the trigger.
But the expert demonstrates that when Baldwin pulled the hammer back all the way, just touching the trigger would fire the weapon. Which is what I’m guessing he did.
He also noted that if Baldwin had only released the hammer, as he claimed, in order for gun to go off his finger would still have had to been on the trigger, pulling it.
The CNN host asked the expert if something could have failed in the gun and it went off without actually pulling the trigger, as some have suggested. But the expert said only an investigation into the gun itself could reveal that and it’s highly unlikely.
So, giving Baldwin the benefit of the doubt on him not intending to pull the trigger, it sounds like he didn’t know what the heck he was doing with the gun. That’s still going to be HIS fault. You never pull the hammer back unless you leverage the trigger to set the hammer back down gently with your thumb. He should have known that.
What may not be his fault, at least entirely, is how a live round got in the gun. I’m sure an investigation will set that straight too. Considering it was a real gun though, he still should have checked it to make sure it was empty before playing with it.