NEWS: Dick Cheney Accidentally Shoots Hunting Partner

Dick Cheney accidentally shot a man in Texas on a hunting trip today. The man's name is Harry Whittington. He is said to be doing fine. Cheney was turning to hit a bird and accidentally dischared the shotgun at Whittington.



I wonder what the gun control lobby will say about this. It's just an accident, and all, but still very bad PR. You'd think that the more pro-gun party would be pretty red faced about such a failure of weapons safety.

I can't believe this! This kind of idiocy in firearms owners is inexcusable! I am just aghast! He should have his firearms removed.

Safety is everything with weapons. All guns are weapons, whether for sport or for combat. I've been around weapons since I was 10, and I've known better than to make a mistake like that for just as long.

On the second offense, his REAL arms should be removed- not just his firearms.

I'm gonna do a little looking and see what happens to people like you and me when we accidentally shoot hunters. I bet it's nothing like what happens to Cheney.

That was my first thought as well. What sort of investigation will occur, and what, if any sanctions will be levied. Firearms in the hands of idiots, no matter how experianced said idiot is with firearms, is a dangerous thing.
Fortunately, the poor schmoe that got shot is apparently OK, or will be after the shot gets dugout of him. Oh look, a featherless, 6 foot tall quail. Shoot it. Oh, damn it all, it wasn't a quail. Sorry, dude.

Well, it looks like hunting accidents normally don't get charged.
I did some looking, and found a few cases, I haven't found any where charges were filed though.

www.zwire.com...

www.all-creatures.org...


The thing is though, it sounds like this was fairly close range, and the victim was not in a separate hunting party whose position was unknown to the shooter. Personally, in a vacuum from all names and political positions, I would say that there MUST be a law applicable to wreckless discharge that would apply here, and if so it really should be applied.

I'll be looking at Texas law for this now.

Most definitely he should be held accountable. As bugs bunny would say, "What a maroon. What a nincompoop." Nice to see Elmer Fudd is alive and well, and hunting quail in Texas.

Just serves to further prove that politicians can't be trusted with guns! They are far too incompetent for even a simple hunting trip!

:shk:

--Kit.

The article does a good job of explaining the incident. Most of those who are shooting off at the mouth, so to speak, obviously have not read the article and have little knowledge of firearms or hunting.

[Property owner Katharine] Armstrong said she was watching from a car while Cheney, Whittington and another hunter got out of the vehicle to shot at a covey of quail late afternoon on Saturday. Whittington shot a bird and went to look for it in the tall grass, while Cheney and the third hunter walked to another spot and found a second covey.

Whittington "came up from behind the vice president and the other hunter and didn't signal them or indicate to them or announce himself," Armstrong told the Associated Press in an interview.

"The vice president didn't see him," she continued. "The covey flushed and the vice president picked out a bird and was following it and shot. And by god, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good. This is something that happens from time to time. You now, I've been peppered pretty well myself," said Armstrong.

Cheney Accidentally Shoots Fellow Hunter

While any shooting accident is serious, as in all sports there are mishaps. It doesn't sound as though the Vice President was as fault at all, even though I doubt that makes him feel any better.


[edit on 2006/2/12 by GradyPhilpott]

I'm hardly out to crucify Cheney, and I certainly wouldn't call this anything other than an accident, but the bottom line is that he fired without being sure of his target.
With all respect for your opinions and your experience with weaponry as a Marine, Grady, 9 times out of 10, when somebody gets shot, the person who pulled the trigger has at least a share of the blame.

Unless this individual moved into a concealed position in the line of fire without giving the shooter any way of knowing it, and was shot without ever being seen, I think Cheney is partially to blame for this unfortunate mistake.

I would never pull the trigger before I had fully recognized everything in my line of fire, and if that means I'll never bag a single frigging quail, I'll hunt something bigger and less agile instead.

As a person that is familliar with both firearms and hunting, I agree Grady, these things do happen. The proceedure lined out is exactly what a hunter should do when line of sight has been lost and approaching another hunter. This guy is an experienced hunter, right? So he either got lazy or this is a complete spin. The 24 hour lag leads me to believe the latter, "Jeez, how are we going to sell this?"

The article does a good job of explaining the incident. Most of those who are shooting off at the mouth, so to speak, obviously have not read the article and have little knowledge of firearms or hunting.

Case closed? MSNBC is right on the money, absolving Cheney? Honestly Grady, in your heart of hearts,whether it be Clinton or Cheney, do you really believe that the government would really tell the truth and say, "Yeah, the Vice and/or President accidently shot a man, hunting. See you in '08!"

And can you really trust the liberal media in the first place?

[edit on 12-2-2006 by curme]

It seems to have been a simple, almost tragic, accident. Mr. Cheney, who by all accounts, is an accomplished hunter; had a momentary lapse of situational awareness, and didn't take that neccesary 2 tenths of a second to check the area around him before firing at his target. Basic hunter safety stuff there, taught to every hunter who has ever been or will be.

Accidents happen. The guy lived. I am sure fines, and other levies are headed Mr. Cheneys way, not to mention late night talk show oneliners.

This first hand account from the victim just in..

"I bringed Dick over his gun from the truck 'n he asked me how I done it so fast.
I said I RAN 'n the next thing ya know I'm pickin pellets outa my ass."

I wonder what the response would have been if Gore, Dean or Kerry had of shot somebody. Probably about the same as Cheney will be made a buffoon of. My guess is they were hammered on wild turkey. Alcohol and gunpowder don't mix.

As a native Texan and a hunter, I know for a fact this happens A LOT.

I wonder what the response would have been if Gore, Dean or Kerry had of shot somebody.

These individuals have nothing to do with the topic. Let's keep to it please folks.

Yes, let's please not make this too political. This is an event that can be discussed fine in it's own context.

We've got a high profile hunting accident which may very bring questions about safety and accountability to the fore, at least briefly (you know how the Media's attention span is, unless OJ is on trial).

I've also seen a change in reports, which may or may not be significant. In the first 20 minutes or so, reports were saying that Whittington did signal his presence but was not seen, and then that disappeared. Maybe just a misunderstanding by the media, or maybe not.

And, of course, there may be some political fallout from this which might be worth discussing if/as it develops.

So there's really no reason to discuss what would have happened if it was Gore- which is unknowable anyway.

As it is, this thread is well on it's way to being the most read/replied story not to be voted up yet, and political spinning can only hurt that.

so the vice president shoot his friend. The guy is going to be ok. Just an accident. I will want to be the guy that got shoot, pretty sure Cheney will make it up to him. Wait for the jokes on the primetime shows. How will the white house handle this "crisis"? He did not see him, The Vicepresident took a decision based on the intelligence he had at the time.

Typically, this would be a local/regional news receiving summary attention on your 6 o'clock channel. However, due to the parties involved, it becomes headline news, even though hunting accidents of this nature are statistically not uncommon.

Personally, I would hope that the incident itself will afford the Vice President a time to reflect upon his own citizenship, his own mortality, and perhaps, even his own self.

Accidents happen ... statistically.

Glad to hear H. Whittington is well and will recover, as I wouldn't wish the alternative on anyone.

Grady.....the news release smacks of damage control. The 'eyewitness account' seems to set Cheney up as an unwitting victim...as if he were snuck up on..........that's just good journalism.

As far as I'm concerned, the press can say whatever they want about what actually happened. The bottom line is as The Vagabond stated....The pulling of the trigger implicates Cheney with some level of negligence.....and the proof lies with the fact that Whittington was shot.

I'm also quite sure that Cheney won't even see any adverse consequence to this act...except maybe some bad PR, but his association with the current administration has already prepared him dor that. Not the same with any other guy......I love our current societal structue.....the term 'accident' and a subsequent, "Well I didn't mean it," seems to apply arbritiarily....

The Vagabond.....WATS vote for your quick follow through on the legal literature for accidental gun violence and how it applies......I think that this story warrants close attention with regards to how Cheney is affected.....I personally suspect that this news story will be gleaned over in favor of a dog rescue in Pesapeake Bay...or something similar....

I guess there was at least one person not paying enough attention, and I don't mean Cheney. When you shoot birds with shotguns you have to 'paint' the target while firing, which is something I guess not everyone knows.

Unlike every other sort of shooting I can think of, the barrel of the gun stays in motion (a sweeping arc, like a paint stroke) while the round is being discharged. It's possible to start shooting safely and end up hitting your friend, if you or your friend aren't totally aware of where you are relative to one another.

He's lucky they were hunting for birds, and not real game that would have required sizable pellets with a lot of energy.

This is why people should be careful if they're going to play with guns. Let this be a lesson to the nation. I'm glad the guy who got shot is recovering, and presumably the bird got away, so everyone's happy - except Cheney, and who the hell cares about him?