Gun Fired by Alec Baldwin Identified

It is official. The revolver fired by Baldwin that killed Halyna Hutchins and wounded Joel  Souza is a F.lli Pietta 45 Long Colt Revolver.

Take a look at the video of how it operates:

It is a single action revolver. That means you have to cock it manually in order to fire it each time. There is no way to fire it accidentally. You have to cock the hammer and then put your finger on the trigger. (The gun, if loaded, can be fired if you hit the hammer with a club of some sort, but that also is a purposeful act.) If you pick it up and the hammer is de-cocked it will not fire.

Also look carefully at how it is loaded. You have to cock the hammer halfway back and open the loading gate. The cylinder stays in place. You must rotate it to insert a round into each of the chambers.

This is negligence on an enormous scale. To check the revolver to ensure there is no live ammunition you must remove the rounds and inspect each one before re-inserting. It is now quite clear that everyone who handled the revolver did not follow this basic rule of gun safety. Baldwin may have fired the round that killed the cinematographer, but he is the small chain in the large chain of custody. It looks like the Assistant Director bears the greatest legal risk. We’ll see.

I want to clarify an important point many have made in the comments. The last person to hold the gun is responsible for determining whether it is loaded or not. Baldwin is not just an actor. He’s also the producer and as such ultimately responsible for ensuring the rules are followed. But I’m afraid he will argue that he relied on the Assistant Director and that might persuade a lefty prosecutor to cut him some slack. That is what I meant by “small chain in the large chain of custody.”