Mr. Eisenberg. Yes.
Mr. Cunningham. I can only say that from my examination internally, as well as having fired this weapon—I found no reason why you would get a misfire with this weapon.
Mr. Eisenberg. Now, if a man had put his hand between the hammer and the point at which the hammer enters, with the firing pin, into the breech face, would that stop the weapon from firing?
Mr. Cunningham. Yes and no. It is very possible that you can do it. And it hurts, by the way, because the mainspring in this one—you can see the indentation in my thumb—is a very strong mainspring. It would be possible. You could put something in there.
Now, the question is when you pull that object out, would there be enough distance and enough force to set off the primer?
That is quite a moot point, because you could grab the hammer and recock it.
Mr. Eisenberg. Apart from that question, would the man's finger or whatever object he stuck in there be firmly fixed for a second or two, between the hammer and the breech face?
Mr. Cunningham. It could be.
Mr. Eisenberg. Would he feel the impact?
Mr. Cunningham. He would definitely feel the impact—if he had a piece of tissue of his hand in between. Now, if a piece of material, of course, went between it which I don't know how it could happen—if you were struggling over the gun, and he said he grabbed the gun—I don't know how he could have anything except a portion of his hand, and I am sure he would feel it if the trigger was pulled.