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

Fox News ^ | December 2, 2021 | Lauryn Overhultz

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

If it is an original copy of a Colt, there should be a half cock to catch the hammer.

[TribalPrincess2U]

A gun can go off if half-cocked.

[Pajamajan]

"Guns don't just go off"

They don't point themselves directly at movie crew members either.

This is similar to SUVs, which do not drive themselves into Christmas parade crowds.

[Scrambler Bob]

Oh, they said it was a ‘misfire’.

[Paal Gulli]

Pietta revolvers have a safety transfer bar. Provided the safety is working properly it is impossible for the firing pin to strike the primer unless the trigger is pulled and held.

[tnlibertarian]

What’s the trigger pull weight on that particular firearm, I wonder...

I haven't fired a single action revolver since I was a kid, but I know that cocking a double action revolver makes the trigger pull all but non-existent compared with shooting it double action and requiring the trigger to rotate the cylinder.

[WeaslesRippedMyFlesh]

At no time in my life have I ever hear of a gun firing itself.

Ever. They can’t and they don’t.

[Hiddigeigei]

"Single action revolvers have to be cocked first and then the trigger pulled."
Or the trigger held back and the hammer raised and dropped. The cocking of the hammer rotates the cylinder. If the hammer is not pulled back far enough, the cylinder will not rotate far enough to line up a primer with the hammer. It is true that if you struck the back of the hammer a sharp enough blow in these old fashion revolvers, the pistol could fire without being cocked.