Alec Baldwin fired prop gun, killing 1 on movie set, Oct 2021 #4

[Gardenista]

Alec Baldwin's claim he didn't pull trigger on 'Rust' questioned by sheriff: 'Guns don't just go off'

"Guns don't just go off," Sheriff Adan Mendoza told Fox News Digital. "So whatever needs to happen to manipulate the firearm, he did that and it was in his hands."

 

[DI_Isokawa]

The critical question is not whether the trigger was pulled; the critical question is how did the weapon become cocked. According to my reading of the documents supporting the search warrant, there were about a dozen people in the building when the gun went off. It is possible that AB could have surreptitiously cocked the weapon and be so confident that no one saw him do it that he could lie about it successfully, but I find it unlikely.

Please, good people, please keep in mind that it takes two distinct actions to discharge a weapon of that type. Any theory of what happened must account for both of them: hammer spring compressed (cocking) and hammer released. The only other option is dropping an uncocked weapon with a round under the hammer and we can be confident that didn't happen.

 

[GatorFL]

The critical question is not whether the trigger was pulled; the critical question is how did the weapon become cocked. According to my reading of the documents supporting the search warrant, there were about a dozen people in the building when the gun went off. It is possible that AB could have surreptitiously cocked the weapon and be so confident that no one saw him do it that he could lie about it successfully, but I find it unlikely.

Please, good people, please keep in mind that it takes two distinct actions to discharge a weapon of that type. Any theory of what happened must account for both of them: hammer spring compressed (cocking) and hammer released. The only other option is dropping an uncocked weapon with a round under the hammer and we can be confident that didn't happen.

I read elsewhere that the Pietta replicas don't have a true replica hammer. Instead, the replica uses a strike plate and firing pin in its design which means it has a flat hammer. You can drop this design all day long if it is uncocked and it will not fire.

Parts diagrams on their website seem to confirm this.

Home

Which means, the only way it fires is if you pull the trigger.

 

[happyday]

So with this type of antique revolver can you just pull the trigger harder and it will shoot without actually cocking it first? My husband’s revolver (not the same as this one) is like that and you do have to make more of an effort to pull it that way, but not it’s THAT hard. He was showing me last night and I tried it. It was easier than I thought. My husband has guns but it’s just not an interest of mine so I don’t know much about them at all.

I can see if AB was in the moment, acting, and carelessly pulled it without realizing it? Or just not wanting to admit it. Seems kind of hard to do, but not impossible. The other options are that something was wrong with this gun, and I don’t know how likely that is. Or that it was intentional, and I don’t think that’s the case. So is it most likely that he was caught up in the moment and pulled the trigger? That’s my best guess right now.

 

[GatorFL]

So with this type of antique revolver can you just pull the trigger harder and it will shoot without actually cocking it first? My husband’s revolver (not the same as this one) is like that and you do have to make more of an effort to pull it that way, but not it’s THAT hard. He was showing me last night and I tried it. It was easier than I thought. My husband has guns but it’s just not an interest of mine so I don’t know much about them at all.

I can see if AB was in the moment, acting, and carelessly pulled it without realizing it? Or just not wanting to admit it. Seems kind of hard to do, but not impossible. The other options are that something was wrong with this gun, and I don’t know how likely that is. Or that it was intentional, and I don’t think that’s the case. So is it most likely that he was caught up in the moment and pulled the trigger? That’s my best guess right now.

No. Won't fire without being cocked.

 

[DI_Isokawa]

I read elsewhere that the Pietta replicas don't have a true replica hammer. Instead, the replica uses a strike plate and firing pin in its design which means it has a flat hammer. You can drop this design all day long if it is uncocked and it will not fire.

Parts diagrams on their website seem to confirm this.

Home

Which means, the only way it fires is if you pull the trigger.

Good work. The fact that the weapon is not a mechanical duplicate of the original may mean that we have to rethink certain assumptions. (The requirement that it be cocked before firing is not one of them.)

 

[Gardenista]

Are we 100% sure it's a replica?

 

[GatorFL]

Are we 100% sure it's a replica?

Yes, identified by the police as a Pietta.

 

[Gardenista]

Yes, identified by the police as a Pietta.

Duh, TY. I was thinking that was the original name, but that would be Colt.

 

[Antimony]

If, for instance, the trigger was pulled or jammed in the pulled position, would the Pietta fire when the hammer was released?
<modsnip - no link>

 

[Cool Cats]

I really don't think this is a good idea!

His attorneys can't be happy. Don't say anything is their Motto.

Or it's the attorney's idea for interviews. Note new attorney then now the high profile sit down interview.

 

[Cool Cats]

'Rust' assistant director maintains Alec Baldwin's claim he didn't pull trigger in fatal shooting: attorney

Lisa Torraco, who is representing Halls, said in a new interview that the assistant director has said from the first day she met him that he believes a misfire took place.

"The entire time Baldwin had his finger outside the trigger guard, parallel to the barrel, and that he told me since day one he thought it was a misfire. And until Alec said that it was just really hard to believe. But Dave has told me since the first day I met him that Alec did not pull that trigger," Torraco said in an interview that aired on "Good Morning America" on Thursday.

Seth Kenney was also interviewed. He is the owner of PDQ Arm and Prop, LLC, which provided guns and ammunition to the production of "Rust." He said he's "absolutely" certain PDQ Arm and Prop did not accidentally send live rounds to the movie set.

"It’s not a possibility that they came from PDQ or from myself personally. When we send dummy rounds out they get individually rattle tested before they get sent out. So if you have a box of 50, you’ve got to do it 50 times and then at that point you know they’re safe to sound," he said.

Kenney also claimed the live ammunition that was seized doesn't match what was on set. He also provided the outlet invoices showing the purchases made by "Rust," the report said. The outlet reports that PDQ wasn't their only provider.

"They found four rounds that were close enough to take in with them. They're not a match but they were close so there's something very unique about the live rounds that were found on ‘Rust’ but we've got to wait for the FBI to do its job."

 

[Cool Cats]

So with this type of antique revolver can you just pull the trigger harder and it will shoot without actually cocking it first? My husband’s revolver (not the same as this one) is like that and you do have to make more of an effort to pull it that way, but not it’s THAT hard. He was showing me last night and I tried it. It was easier than I thought. My husband has guns but it’s just not an interest of mine so I don’t know much about them at all.

I can see if AB was in the moment, acting, and carelessly pulled it without realizing it? Or just not wanting to admit it. Seems kind of hard to do, but not impossible. The other options are that something was wrong with this gun, and I don’t know how likely that is. Or that it was intentional, and I don’t think that’s the case. So is it most likely that he was caught up in the moment and pulled the trigger? That’s my best guess right now.

Or he is caught up in the moment of being sued and knows that he is liable for deliberately pointing the gun and firing it at a person.

Saying it is a faulty weapon and not his fault it fired gives him a mitigating circumstance to have less liability and less $ go out the door in damages.

 

[happyday]

Or he is caught up in the moment of being sued and knows that he is liable for deliberately pointing the gun and firing it at a person.

Saying it is a faulty weapon and not his fault it fired gives him a mitigating circumstance to have less liability and less $ go out the door in damages.

Well with AB and DH claiming it was a misfire and that the trigger was not pulled, investigators will be testing it, and I’m sure they’ll be able to tell if some mechanism in the gun is faulty. I mean they can claim faulty gun all day, but the gun either works correctly or it doesn’t. If it does work correctly, then the trigger was pulled, end of story!

 

[EGirl]

No. Won't fire without being cocked.

I have a .32 Revolver. You can just pull trigger, which will pull hammer back and fire. No cocking needed. It is harder to fire without cocking, but not impossible.

 

[mickey2942]

This interview is a bad idea. Pull the plug. Especially if AB says anything like, "I don't know how guns work...blah, blah". Every single time he has used any gun on any show can be pulled to refute.

 

[Ruby12345]

'Rust' assistant director maintains Alec Baldwin's claim he didn't pull trigger in fatal shooting: attorney

Lisa Torraco, who is representing Halls, said in a new interview that the assistant director has said from the first day she met him that he believes a misfire took place.

"The entire time Baldwin had his finger outside the trigger guard, parallel to the barrel, and that he told me since day one he thought it was a misfire. And until Alec said that it was just really hard to believe. But Dave has told me since the first day I met him that Alec did not pull that trigger," Torraco said in an interview that aired on "Good Morning America" on Thursday.

Seth Kenney was also interviewed. He is the owner of PDQ Arm and Prop, LLC, which provided guns and ammunition to the production of "Rust." He said he's "absolutely" certain PDQ Arm and Prop did not accidentally send live rounds to the movie set.

"It’s not a possibility that they came from PDQ or from myself personally. When we send dummy rounds out they get individually rattle tested before they get sent out. So if you have a box of 50, you’ve got to do it 50 times and then at that point you know they’re safe to sound," he said.

Kenney also claimed the live ammunition that was seized doesn't match what was on set. He also provided the outlet invoices showing the purchases made by "Rust," the report said. The outlet reports that PDQ wasn't their only provider.

"They found four rounds that were close enough to take in with them. They're not a match but they were close so there's something very unique about the live rounds that were found on ‘Rust’ but we've got to wait for the FBI to do its job."

He previously told police he thought he knew where the live rounds came from - the reloaded ammunition he got from a friend. Now there's no way they could send out live ammo as they rattle each round...

 

[GatorFL]

I have a .32 Revolver. You can just pull trigger, which will pull hammer back and fire. No cocking needed. It is harder to fire without cocking, but not impossible.

That's a completely different gun. Yours is a double action meaning the trigger will *advertiser censored* the hammer and fire it. The gun used in this incident is a single action, all the trigger does is release the hammer so the bullet is fired.

 

[MsMarple]

Alec Baldwin's claim he didn't pull trigger on 'Rust' questioned by sheriff: 'Guns don't just go off'

"Guns don't just go off," Sheriff Adan Mendoza told Fox News Digital. "So whatever needs to happen to manipulate the firearm, he did that and it was in his hands."

From your link:
"In order to make it fire, you have to put your thumb up onto the hammer, *advertiser censored* the hammer all the way back, and then as the hammer is completely cocked back, then you pull the trigger and then the gun fires," [armorer] Carpenter explained. "So that's very important because that gun had to have two step process to fire. It had to be cocked and the trigger pulled to fire."
...
"Once you *advertiser censored* the hammer back on one of those old west guns, it doesn't take a lot to set that trigger off," he told Fox News Digital. "You know, they're very light triggers."

The modern-day Glock handgun has around a five-pound trigger pull, according to Carpenter, "whereas one of those old westerns could have a two pound trigger on it, which is half or less than half of what a modern gun has," he said.
...
Film and prop historian Michael Corrie explained to Fox News that firing a revolver without pulling the trigger would require a "mechanical failure."
Alec Baldwin's claim he didn't pull trigger on 'Rust' questioned by sheriff: 'Guns don't just go off'

Short of the FBI determining the gun really did fail mechanically I'm afraid enough people will be swayed by the claims made by Baldwin and others, true or not. Did Baldwin explain why he pointed the gun at Halyna and/or her camera?

IMO HGR is still the center of responsibility: without her sloppy handling of the gun and ammo Halyna would be celebrating the holidays with her family. HGR can deny and deflect all she wants but it won't change the facts. MOO.

 

[happyday]

From your link:
"In order to make it fire, you have to put your thumb up onto the hammer, *advertiser censored* the hammer all the way back, and then as the hammer is completely cocked back, then you pull the trigger and then the gun fires," [armorer] Carpenter explained. "So that's very important because that gun had to have two step process to fire. It had to be cocked and the trigger pulled to fire."
...
"Once you *advertiser censored* the hammer back on one of those old west guns, it doesn't take a lot to set that trigger off," he told Fox News Digital. "You know, they're very light triggers."

The modern-day Glock handgun has around a five-pound trigger pull, according to Carpenter, "whereas one of those old westerns could have a two pound trigger on it, which is half or less than half of what a modern gun has," he said.
...
Film and prop historian Michael Corrie explained to Fox News that firing a revolver without pulling the trigger would require a "mechanical failure."
Alec Baldwin's claim he didn't pull trigger on 'Rust' questioned by sheriff: 'Guns don't just go off'

Short of the FBI determining the gun really did fail mechanically I'm afraid enough people will be swayed by the claims made by Baldwin and others, true or not. Did Baldwin explain why he pointed the gun at Halyna and/or her camera?

IMO HGR is still the center of responsibility: without her sloppy handling of the gun and ammo Halyna would be celebrating the holidays with her family. HGR can deny and deflect all she wants but it won't change the facts. MOO.

All of this is interesting. I do wonder if he was handed a cocked gun and then it didn’t take much at all to pull the trigger. Supposedly he was cross body drawing the gun? So he could have grabbed it the wrong way and it fired as he drew it across his body? If he actually pointed the gun at the camera/Halyna and he/it fired, it will have been witnessed. They know that by now I’m sure. He says he didn’t do that, but if he did—they know. He wasn’t the only other person there.

And yes, how live ammo got on set and in the gun is still key.