If you're following the Alec Baldwin story, what he's saying about what happened doesn't make much sense. The weapon he used to shoot the two women was a single action revolver. I carry these myself sometimes, especially for horseback riding when there's just a chance I might get thrown if the horse should panic (which might be occasioned by a stick on the trail it mistakes for a snake, horses being unreasonable animals). The modern single action revolver is about the safest firearm you can carry. It will not go off by accident.
This is because you have to cock the hammer before the trigger does any useful thing. Once the hammer is cocked, the trigger has to be used to release the hammer to decock the revolver, or to fire it. But until it is cocked, the revolver isn't going to do anything at all unless you throw it in a fire.
The only way the revolver might have fired without him pulling the trigger is if a sear broke internally, but that's almost impossible. These things are made out of cold-rolled steel.
He's an actor. Saying untrue things and making you believe them is part of his job.
ReplyDeleteOTOH, maybe he's speaking metaphorically. "I was cocking the hammer and pulling the trigger, playing around with the thing, but I'd never really do anything but play. My heart and intentions are pure."
On the third hand, maybe he put the bullet in himself. Did he have any beef with the lady? Going to dinner with her doesn't prove anything--Hollywood is infamous.
He's guilty of at least one thing: taking someone else's word for the safety of the firearm he was handed.
ReplyDeleteHe claims, variously, to be used to handling firearms and to being a naif regarding firearms. Nevertheless, it was his responsibility, as it is for each of us, to immediately check the pistol to see that it's unloaded, or not, and if not to inspect the rounds that are loaded to ensure that they are suitable to the scene's purpose--live rounds, blanks, crimped shells whose only use is to make noise and create a flash out the end of the barrel.
On a movie set, I'm not sure why blanks would be needed; the crimped shells should be sufficient. Even the live rounds should be vanishingly rare. If the purpose is to show some marksmanship at shooting bottles or snakes or whatnot, that's easily simulated with considerable verisimilitude. If he can't tell the difference among them, it's his responsibility to learn--or to put the pistol down and decline to use it in the scene. That's a separate matter, though; the situation was that the pistol had at least one live round in it, and Baldwin, without so much as a faretheewell, aimed it at a human and squeezed the trigger.
The man did none of those safety-checky things. His decision to be negligent makes him, in my non-lawyer opinion, guilty also of at least negligent homicide. His cowardice in denying his responsibility should be an item of consideration at sentencing for plussing up his sentence.
Eric Hines
I have a single-action revolver that I love. Alas, the loading system is a little slow for a carry piece. But yes, should it drop, it is not going to fire barring a miracle.
ReplyDeleteLittleRed1
It's slow, but if you run dry you can always use it as a bludgeon.
ReplyDelete...if you run dry you can always use it as a bludgeon.
ReplyDeleteA semi-automatic also can be used as a bludgeon; it just takes longer (or should) to run dry.
Eric Hines
Assuming he's not simply lying, I take this to be a version of the classic "the gun was in my hand" testimony by witnesses describing a shooting under traumatic circumstances they can't quite bring themselves to recall. "I don't know what happened. Suddenly he was dead." He can't bring himself to remember the act of pulling the trigger.
ReplyDeleteWell....maybe....
ReplyDeletePretend to be holding a pistol. Make the 'cocking the hammer' action with your thumb and note that your index finger has a sympathetic motion. If he's not paying attention, he's just set up a 'fanning' fire by merely cocking the gun with the trigger (inadvertently) in the 'fire' position.
The issue is in need of investigative information. I've rhe firearm is an Italian reproduction and (as I understand it) one can choose them either configured as the originals were, or alternatively configured with the transfer bar, the safety device that prevents inadvertent firing if it's dropped, or if the hammer is hit. Also, is the gun modified or damaged / defective in any way? Until we know these things, there is only speculation. Also, I've read that Baldwin was practicing a seated 'cross-draw' while cocking the piece during this rehearsal, and that sounds dangerous already. Judging from what he's saying in public interviews, he certainly seems to be living up to his reputation.
ReplyDeleteTransfer bar safeties are a genuine improvement. I wouldn’t buy a sinks action without one. Those Italian guns are often very good, from my experience.
ReplyDelete*single, obviously. These damn phones make me look illiterate.
ReplyDelete