Baldwin | The Zelman Partisans

This claim comes via the not-so-reliable LA Times.

‘Rust’ prosecutors drop charges against Alec Baldwin after questions over gun misfire
The development came after prosecutors received new information in the case — that Baldwin’s prop gun had been modified before being delivered to the low-budget western in October 2021, according to three people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment.

The replica of the vintage weapon — a Colt .45 revolver — had been modified , increasing the odds that the gun might have misfired, as Baldwin has said, according to the sources.

Methinks someone neglected to read the FBI forensic report on the testing of the gun. Here’s is the relevant portion (page 6).

TL;DR: They tried to force it to fire without pulling the trigger by pounding on the hammer with a mallet 1) with the hammer down, 2) at quarter cock, 3) at half cock, and 4) at full cock. The only detonation occurred in the full cock position…

…when they pounded the hammer so hard that the sear sheered.

Prior to the breakage, the gun operated properly and would not fire.

Accidental Discharge Testing

Hammer at rest (de-cocked on a loaded chamber)
With the hammer at rest on a loaded chamber, Item 2 detonated a primer without a pull of the trigger when the hammer was struck directly. With a revolver of this design, when the hammer is at rest on a loaded chamber, the firing pin sits directly on the primer of the cartridge. When force is applied to the hammer, such as striking or dropping, it can fire the cartridge without a pull of the trigger. This is consistent with normal operation for a single-action revolver of this design.

Hammer at ¼ and ½ cock positions
With the hammer in the ¼ and ½ cock positions, Item 2 could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger. When enough pressure was applied to the trigger, each of these safety positions were overcome and the hammer fell. This is consistent with normal operation for a single-action revolver of this design.

With the hammer in the ¼ cock position, pressure was applied to the trigger and the hammer fell, however the firing pin did not have enough force to detonate the primer and resulted in light firing pin strikes.

With the hammer in the ½ cock position, pressure was applied to the trigger and the hammer fell, however the cylinder could not be properly aligned to the bore, the firing pin struck the outer headstamp area and did not detonate the primer.

Hammer at full cock position

With the hammer in the full cock position, Item 2 could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger while the working internal components were intact and functional. During this testing, portions of the trigger sear and cylinder stop fractured while the hammer was struck. The fracture of these internal components allowed the hammer to fall and the firing pin and detonated the primer. This was the only successful discharge during this testing and it was attributed to the fracture of internal components, not the failure of the firearm or safety mechanisms.

This claim that the gun was modified makes me wonder if they got the gun back from the FBI, noticed that now it can misfire, but overlooked the FBI statement that they broke the sear themselves, which most definitely had been working properly pre-mallet-pounding.

I’d like to know who these unnamed sources are, and just what their “familiarity” is. Designated defense teams leakers, perhaps?

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The probable cause statement for Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter charges is available.

For those with an unfortunate interest in law, it’s very interesting. For those convinced that Baldwin shouldn’t have been charged because he’s just a stupid actor, and you can’t expect actors to show any sense, and the Four Rules aren’t law…

…it will be infuriating.

In Baldwin’s case: They have video and photos of him fingering the trigger. He skipped safety training. When the armorer roped him into training, he spent the whole time on the phone.

A forensic report that says the handgun was functioning correctly. The trigger had to be pulled.

Baldwin changing his story.

The document describes film industry standards and protocols, and describes how Baldwin — as the primary producer — actively and willfully blew them off.

The Four Rules? I had said

Aesop might as well claim that Baldwin shouldn’t be charged because § 30-2-3 doesn’t specifically say not to point a load gun at people and pull the trigger when you don’t even know if it’s loaded. Those words aren’t there either.

“Without due caution and circumspection” are, and the Rules illustrate what due caution and circumspection look like.

The probable cause statement — using different phrasing — says precisely that. Because…

One more time; if I were the prosecutor, I’d present clips from interviews, and social media post of Baldwin telling everyone else how to do it right, and ask him, “Mr. Baldwin, for years you’ve claimed you know better on firearm safety than everyone else. Why are you now claiming to be dumber than a six year-old in need of constant adult supervision?”

And that’s exactly what the prosecution has done in the probable cause statement: You know this stuff. Why didn’t you do it?

Negligence is when you know better, but do it anyway. This document establishes that Baldwin did it, should have known better, and has repeatedly claimed to know better.

On the armorer front, Gutierrez-Reed will need to do some serious explaining. Per the statement, law enforcement found — this is addition to the expended round used to kill Hutchins — six live rounds on set. Including a live round on Baldwin’s holster.

And forensics indicates those live rounds did not come from the movie’s supplier as she had once tried to imply.

So, little miss armorer, why were live rounds on set at all, and where did they come from? Why did you never notice live rounds mixed in with your equipment?

I recall early claims that she had been letting people use prop guns for recreational plinking. I think those claims just became a lot more credible.