nbcaffeine

OK, here's what seems like a stupid question, but I haven't really been able to find an answer to:

I recently purchased a 98 XJ. Among other issues, there's no airbag in the steering wheel. The cover that it attaches to is there, but it's empty on the inside. None of the wiring is hooked up, so naturally the horn doesn't work. One of the prior owners wired a button on the dash to honk the horn (probably for inspection, too lazy/cheap to get a new airbag).

As far as I can tell, they weren't deployed (the passenger one is there and intact). No accidents have been reported, no noticeable damage to the unibody near either bumper. Image for reference So, I'm going with the assumption that they haven't deployed, thus using up the clock spring (or just shot, I know that's a common issue)

So, my question: Is it possible to test out the horn circuit without an airbag hooked up, to verify that the clock spring at least works? There's no cruise, so it's just horn and airbag. I'm trying to get the parts I need ordered so that the shop who's going to be fixing some other issues and doing in the inspection has what I need.

Apologies if this has been answered, I searched all over and mostly come up with clock spring failure threads.