Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, spraying the fellow hunter in the face and chest with shotgun pellets.

Harry Whittington, a millionaire attorney from Austin, was "alert and doing fine" in a Corpus Christi hospital Sunday after he was shot by Cheney on a ranch in south Texas, said Katharine Armstrong, the property's owner.


http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/feeds/ap/2006/02/12/ap2519511.html

-- Modified on 2/12/2006 5:22:59 PM

No, really! I'm not gonna touch this one, except to say i hope the poor bastard Cheney shot recovers, so he can sue the fuck out of the Vice Prick.

(Is it my imagination, or have i been using an extraordinarily large number of vulgar epithets recently? Hmmm, must be the allergy withdrawals.)

Do you really need a shotgun to hunt quail?  They are only little things, isn't it a bit of overkill?

I don't agree with shooting animals for fun so have no sympathy for either of them.

Cheney was using a 28-gauge shotgun with Birdshot in it... not exactly the choice weapon of terrorists.

Shotgun shells are generally measured by "gauge",
which is a number indicating how many lead spheres of the given diameter would be required to make a pound. Thus a 28-gauge, which Cheney was using, actually has much less power and force than the standard 12-gauge or 20-gauge. (*In simplistic terms- it takes 28 little lead spheres to make a pound from the gun the VP was using.... as opposed to the "normal" 12 little lead spheres that make a pound, which most hunters use*) If a 28-gauge is "over kill" what firearm would you suggest?

Your statement is quite remarkable as the very weapon of choice that the VP had is much less powerful than the standard gun used in hunting.... It should also be noted that the area in which the Vice-President was hunting in has long standing traditions of hunting wild creatures.... their ancestors needed to do this in order to survive.  
(*It is now practised as a "sport" )

Besides.... in America of you own 50,000 acres and you choose to hunt the wild life that migrates on it, then all you need is a license or permit depending on the State and the animal. (*The last I checked Quail wasn't an endangered species*) I suppose one might argue that without the hunters nature would be forced to have a portion of the population of a specific species die off due to starvation, which is what happens in many areas that become over populated by a specific animal.

I understand that there are countries around the world that do not trust their Citizens enough to allow them to bear arms but I am grateful America does. Hunting just goes along with some of our rights and privileges, as law abiding citizens of a socially developed Nation.

Many Americans joke & complain about many of the
issues in our society but I don't believe Foreign
Nations and their citizens understand that as an
American we value the right to complain, grip &
joke.... please don't mis-understand that to believe we would prefer to be living in any other country.....     kisses  ~Tori

Also, the range of a shotgun load is quite low ( a couple hundred yards/meters). Shooting even a 22 caliber short load at the elevation required to hit a flying bird could be quite distressful to by-standers down range.
Unless you suggest that the bird is shot while still grounded (which of course is illegal).

How Dan feels about this.

Thank You

If it wasn't for ability to shoot guns and shoot them well.......you would be speaking and writing German now.  Give it a rest.

there was nothing "wild" about these birds because from what I understand they were raised in pens and placed there so these geriatrics could come drive up in there cars, get out and blow them away. Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against people blowing away poor defenseless animals (just like I have nothing against people blowing away rich defenseless Republicans) just don't turn it into something more than just the infantile macho posturing that it is.

It takes an interesting breed of person to enjoy killing another living thing, no matter how small, for sport only...in my bleeding heart, tree hugger, liberal opinion.

Flame away, people.

Are Texas lawyers an endangered species?

No. you need a shotgun to hunt attornies...LOL

and that is that any idiot who accidentally shoots another needs to be beaten to a bloody parade rest.

No, there are no accidents with firearms.  But there are some idiots with firearms, like who don't look before they shoot, and idiots shouldn't have firearms.

Perhaps if that useless fuckhead had the same priorities as most of us, i.e., to answer when our nation needs us, he would have learned to use the goddamned thing, and not shoot people unless he intended to kill them.

until the guys with the big nets come get you.

Personally, I prefer http://www.winterwar.com/images/40mmBoforsAntiAir.jpg

I understand your feelings, and see why you feel the need to post this statement.  However not all hunters just kill for the sake of just killing.  Some actually eat what they kill and share with family members!  I only have a problem with those hunters, who don't hunt fairly or do not utilize what they kill (meaning they have put food out for the deer, and sit in a tall box above waiting for deer to feed below them and shoot! Or better scenario they trap a panther in a box, then let the panther out and send their dogs to chew the Big Cat up before killing it for sport!)  Now if they hunt the right way, meaning track their prey and shoot on ground from a distance, to me that seems more like a real sport.  There aren't too many hunters that I personally know who don't eat or utilize what they kill.  I have benefitted and so has my family from the meat that is gained from the hunt.  I have eaten quail, deer, boar, Tuna and the like.  Yea, accidents really do happen on these hunting trips, but only by people who are not using caution or do stupid things.  Just my 02. on this.

My complaint wasn't the gun he was using or the fact that  he was "hunting- yes I know that term is thown around lol"... my complaint was I had to hear for two days how Poor 'ole man Whittington was negligent in "announcing his arrival back into the group"  finally,
someone broke the mold Monday and said ughhhh, if you shoot a gun, you are responsible for what it hits, not that the target is responsible for yelling don't shoot me. ~And... I hope those that were listening heard me say... "lucky he didn't have a heart attack" can I call it or what! (*and yes I know Whittington might be
old but he isn't poor by any stretch of the
imagination.... just a Southern term for the poor 'ole guy. (*5 years rubs off on you*)
            kisses  ...... ~Tori

on my buddies.  They looked sorta like Krauts.

obviously and totally irresistable.

I wonder if VP Cheney is reconsidering the virtues of the outdoors sportman lifestyle?

What an inane comparison!  I'm incredulous you equate hunting little birds for fun with defeating the Nazis!