Cheney Shoots Hunting Companion
Did Victim Screw Up or Did VP have an AD?

Vice-president Cheney accidentally shot and wounded Harry Whittington, 78, an Austin lawyer, while quail hunting trip on the Texas ranch of Katharine Armstrong, former U.S. ambassador to Great Britain.

"Yep, it was your normal size birdshot shell, about this long."

Cheney sprayed Whittington on the right cheek, neck and chest with birdshot pellets after Whittington "came up from behind the vice-president and the other hunter and didn't signal them or indicate to them or announce himself" just as the VP was shooting at a covey of quail. Whittington was "alert and doing fine" in a Corpus Christi hospital Sunday night.

Regardless of who was at fault, the four rules of firearms safety can never be repeated enough:
1. All guns are always loaded.
2. Never (let the muzzle) cover anything you’re not willing to destroy.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.
4. Be sure of your target and what’s beyond.

"Dick Cheney is one of the safest gunhandlers I've ever been with. I trust him to cover my back as much as I trust my Secret Service detail."