Old Westerns where cowboy fires pistol with hammer only

I know I've seen old western movies where the cowboy stands there just firing multiple rounds by repeatedly releasing the hammer of the gun, and like Baldwin, never pulling the trigger.

Am I wrong? I'm not at all educated in guns and have never shot more than a BB gun my entire life.

I'm of the belief that Baldwin's gun certainly could have fired when he released the cocked hammer. Thus he still bears some responsibility, even though he may not have actually pulled the trigger.

I do believe it's nothing more than a case of "involuntary manslaughter", but there are three areas of neglect here:

1 - Total lack of training related to his understanding of the gun he was handling.

2 - Baldwin bears some responsibility for not checking the gun for live ammo first.

3 - The armorer is obviously in some trouble for all of the above.