Well, amazingly, I straightened out that latch without breaking, it and put it all back together, and it works.
Not only does it work, but it works better than it has ever worked!
All of this which leads me to believe that the thing was a little bit bent from day one and I just bent it worse.
The guy that put this gun together clearly had trouble getting that pin in place and after doing it myself I can see why. There's not much clearance to hit it in, and I had to make a special bent drift to access it properly.