Did Alec Baldwin pull the trigger? In his first interview since the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the actor Alec Baldwin said he had started to cock a gun and released the hammer but "never pulled the trigger." The shooting, on the set of a western called "Rust," remains under investigation. Baldwin's recollection has been backed by an attorney for "Rust" assistant director Dave Halls, who said his finger was never in the trigger guard. But several gun experts increasingly say this scenario does not make sense unless there was a serious mechanical defect with the gun — which should have been obvious before it was used. As a reader service, we rounded up what prominent gun experts have said about Baldwin's statement, and the fact check includes video demonstrations of how a gun's mechanisms work. For example, Stephen Gutowski, founder and editor of the Reload, which reports on guns, wrote in an opinion article: "Despite how often people will say a gun just 'went off' on its own, it's an extremely uncommon phenomenon. Modern guns have internal safeties that make it impossible for the gun to fire without the trigger being pulled." Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to someone else who'd like it! If this email was forwarded to you, sign up here. Did you hear something fact-checkable? Send it here; we'll check it out. Visual trickery in a Democratic ad A 30-second ad running in Nevada on behalf of Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D), who is up for reelection next year, may leave viewers very confused. Cortez Masto, the narrator says, "worked with both parties to help lower Nevadans' costs. Lower costs for our health-care premiums and prescription drugs." Onscreen, a newspaper headline flashes by as these lines are spoken, trumpeting the benefits of President Biden's $550 billion infrastructure law for Nevadans. But here's the pickle: The infrastructure law includes no policies to lower insurance premiums or the cost of prescription drugs. That's a different piece of legislation, Build Back Better, which has not passed the Senate. The group behind the ad is Majority Forward. It is aligned with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and does not disclose its donors. They make a plausible case that Cortez Masto's vote on a coronavirus relief package in March lowered insurance costs, but there is no evidence the senator has voted on proposals that lowered drug prices. We awarded Two Pinocchios. We're always looking for fact-check suggestions. You can reach us via email, Twitter (@GlennKesslerWP, @rizzoTK, @AdriUsero) or Facebook. Read about our process and rating scale here, and sign up for the newsletter here. Scroll down for this week's Pinocchio roundup. | 
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