Is Blank Ammunition Dangerous? Did Alec Baldwin Actually Pull the Trigger?

I'm covering 2 videos at once here because the second video is a clarification of the first. 

I talked about the rules of gun safety: 
1. Point your firearm in a safe direction
2. Treat every firearm as if it's loaded
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot
4. Know your target and what's behind it
5. Always wear hearing and eye protection

Is blank ammunition dangerous? I put it to the test and the answer is simply that it depends how close you are... for the average user... don't point your firearm at anything you aren't willing to (potentially) kill even if you've triple checked they're blanks...

I talked about the possibility of a revolver firing without touching the trigger if it's equipped with a "slip hammer". These are lightened hammers that do not have the traditional 4 click cocking mechanism. They only lock back at full cock. You would typically see these hammers in single action competitions such as cowboy mounted action shooting or some other such single action shooting competition. 

I demonstrated that a single action revolver with equipped with a hammer mounted firing pin and a slip hammer could in fact be fired simply by pulling the hammer back and having it drop on a live round without locking all the way back. 

If Alec Baldwin was practicing his quick draw as was rumored, and if his firearm met the above parameters, then it's possible that his thumb could have slipped off the hammer or it just didn't lock back allowing the gun to fire. 

That being said: that does not excuse Alec Baldwin from violating Rules 1, 2, and 4 of the above listed firearm safety rules. If this tragic shooting fell within the parameters of my test, then I can't fault him for Rule #3 because he would not have had to touch the trigger. And he claims that he didn't. 

Now, I'm not defending Mr. Baldwin. I'm not a subject matter expert. I'm not a witness. I wasn't there. I'm just not wanting to lynch the guy when we don't have all the facts yet. 

In the first video, I also covered quick draw and how it could very easily lead to injury to yourself or others around you. 

Check out the videos at the Idaho Rifleman YouTube channel. Thanks for stopping by!

God bless, 
Idaho Rifleman


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