NEW YORK, NY. (THECOUNT) — How does a gun misfire without the trigger being pulled? That is the question a lot of folks are asking on social media Thursday after the lawyer for the assistant director on “Rust” made the puzzling statement while appearing on “Good Morning America.”
Lisa Torraco is backing up Alec Baldwin’s claim he did not pull the trigger on the gun that caused the death of Halyna Hutchins, saying the firearm “misfired.”
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Torraco actually went a step further, saying her client told her from day 1 not only did Baldwin not pull the trigger, he didn’t even have his finger on the trigger.
Torraco said, “…that 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. I know, and until alec said that, it was just really hard to believe, but Dave has told me since the very first day I met him that Alec did not pull that Trigger,” reports TMZ.
For starters, the word “misfire” is being used improperly. A misfire is when you pull the trigger and nothing happens because there’s something wrong with the ammo.
The core issue, however — can a gun discharge a bullet when someone does not pull the trigger? Weapons expert Steve Wolf tells TMZ, yes, if someone drops a loaded gun the inertia of the trigger hitting the ground could cause enough movement for the gun to discharge.
But, Wolf is clear … if someone is holding a gun, he says it will not fire without the user pulling the trigger. He says some of these weapons have “very light trigger action” … meaning a gentle tap could cause a discharge. But, he says there can’t be a discharge without some trigger movement.
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