SAN ANTONIO — The battle Alec Baldwin is going through after the accidental shooting and killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of "Rust" has many people thinking about gun safety. In tonight's Verify we look into the issue.
The gun that Baldwin used is called a "Long Colt 45" which is a revolver. Baldwin says he never pulled the trigger, but the gun still went off.
THE QUESTION
Can a "Long Colt 45" really go off without pulling the trigger?
THE SOURCES
- Bill Mochel, the General Manager of Nagel's Gun Shop just north of downtown San Antonio
- The Federal Bureau of Investigations
THE ANSWER
WHAT WE FOUND
Mochel told us, "If it's a proper firearm in working order. No, it could not. You have little safety notches. So with the trigger not being pulled, there's not really a way."
Mochel said as long as the gun, in this case a replica of a colt, is in working order, it would not go off. He added, "With the hammer pulled back. No matter how much you interact with it, nothing's going to happen. It is locked in. It is in a safe position. The only way to get that to go forward is with the trigger."
A report by the FBI agreed and said if the hammer was cocked the gun "could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger while the working internal components were intact and functional."
So no. It is not true. A Long Colt 45 in working order can not go off without pulling the trigger.
Mochel also told us they take gun safety seriously, and with every gun sale they give the purchaser a safety sheet with close to two dozen tips to follow.