Smallville Actor John Schneider Explains Why Alec Baldwin’s Gun Could Not Have Misfired Without The Actor Pulling The Trigger
Josh Berger
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Actor John Schneider, known for his roles in Smallville and The Dukes of Hazzard, recently shared a video wherein he explains why he believes Alec Baldwin’s gun could not have misfired on the set of Rust like the actor claims.
Schneider begins the video letting viewers know that he is holding a Colt .45 revolver similar to the one Baldwin discharged on the set of Rust, killing director of photography Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
“I’ve just been handed this weapon, so I’m now going to click it back so that I can check it,” said the Smallville actor, pointing to the gun’s cylinder and making sure that there isn’t any live rounds in it.
Giving us a better look at the revolver’s chambers Schneider adds, “You can also look here and see that there’s nothing. There’s no lead in there.”
“Now, if I were to be really persnickety about this, which you would be on a set, you would come in here and take [the ejector] out, [then] you would take [the cylinder] out, check it, and then you would look down the barrel and make sure that there’s nothing inside there.”
Source: John Schneider, YouTube
While Schneider does acknowledge that the process of disassembling and reassembling a firearm “is a pain in the butt,” he also states that “this is what firearm safety is all about.”
The actor then explains that the Colt .45 is a single-action weapon and, therefore, it cannot be fired without pulling the trigger. “In order for this to fire, you’ve got to pull [the hammer] all the way back,” explaining that “these guns have a safety built” that prevents them from going off.
“You’ve got to pull [the hammer] back [and] pull the trigger, ” reiterated Schneider, mentioning that “there is some thought that Alec [Baldwin] was fanning” the gun when it went off, explaining that “if I fan [the hammer] it’s going to stick there unless I have my finger on the trigger.”
Source: John Schneider, YouTube
“That’s how a single-action weapon works. You can’t accidentally pull the trigger,” further elaborated the actor, adding that “if you have your finger on the trigger, and you fan it, it will go, because it’s the trigger that releases that catch right there,” as he proceeded to dry fire the gun to demonstrate.
Schneider further asserted, “So, the notion that this weapon could go off without somebody pulling the trigger is really hard to believe,” explaining that some people would leave one chamber empty as a safety measure.
Interestingly, the actor also explains that the only way a loaded firearm, like the one Alec Baldwin discharged on the movie set, to accidentally go off is for someone to either drop it or “hit it with a hammer.”
Source: John Schneider, YouTube
“So there’s a lot of things we’re told to believe that don’t make a lot of sense,” Schneider said, alluding to the information provided by Alec Baldwin in regards to the shooting on the set of Rust, before speculating about what could’ve actually happened.
“My understanding is that the gun was cross-drawn and then fired down like this. … So, if he was cross-drawing and then aiming it like this,” Schneider theorised whilst reenacting the tragic event, explaining that Halyna Hutchins “was telling him where to aim” and Joel Souza was standing behind her.
Schneider continued, “This is not a gun that fell on the ground. This is not a gun [that] even if I fanned it. Remember, if I fan it and my finger is not on the trigger, nothing’s going to happen,” again reiterating that “the only way that goes down is if I pull the trigger.”
He then concluded that Baldwin’s testimony “is not adding up for me, and I hope that it’s not adding up for you either.”
Source: John Schneider, YouTube
Related: Alec Baldwin Says He Feels No Guilt Following Shooting And Killing Of Halyna Hutchins
Alec Baldwin was recently interviewed by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, where he provided details about the tragic incident that killed Halyna Hutchins and injured Joel Souza, claiming that Assistant Director David Halls, who handed him the gun, reassured that it wasn’t charged.
Further, Baldwin claims that he didn’t even pull the trigger, stating that it was a “completely incidental shot” at an angle that may not have even been used in the movie.
“This was a completely incidental shot, an angle that might not have ended up in the film at all. But we kept doing this. So then I said to her, ‘Now, in this scene I’m going to cock the gun.’ And I said, ‘Do you want to see that?’ And she said yes,” explained Baldwin.
Source: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, YouTube
The Rust actor added, “So I take the gun and I start to cock the gun. I’m not going to pull the trigger. I said, ‘Do you see this?’ She says, ‘Well, just cheat it down and tilt it down a little bit like that.’ And I cock the gun and I go, ‘Can you see that? Can you see that? Can you see that?’ And she says…and I let go of the hammer of the gun and the gun goes off. I let go of the hammer of the gun and the gun goes off.”
Baldwin then claimed, “Well, the trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger. “No, no, no, no. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never,” adding, “That was the training that I had. You don’t point a gun at somebody and pull the trigger.”
Source: ABC News YouTube
However, Baldwin would later claim that he did not actually cock the gun telling Stephanopoulos that he pulled, “the hammer as far back as I could without cocking the actual…”
Stephanopoulos says, “And you are holding on to the hammer?”
To which Baldwin replies, “I’m holding. I’m just showing her. I go, ‘How about that? Does that work? You see that?’ Do you see that? Do you see that?’ She goes, ‘Yeah that’s good.’ I let go of the hammer. Bang. The gun goes off.”
Left to right: Alec Baldwin as Alan Hunley and Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT, from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.
When Stephanopoulos asked Baldwin whether he felt guilt for killing Hutchins and injuring Souza, the actor fervently said, “No, no. I feel that someone is responsible for what happened and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”
.@GStephanopoulos: "Do you feel guilt?"
Alec Baldwin: “No. Someone is responsible for what happened and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”
NOW STREAMING on @Hulu: https://t.co/4iAWW86Kbw #BaldwinABC pic.twitter.com/F64P3aR9vB
— ABC News (@ABC) December 3, 2021
What do you make of John Schneider’s thorough explanation why he believes Alec Baldwin’s gun could have not misfired on the set of Rust? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below or on social media.