Cheney didn't follow protocols taught 12-year-olds in hunter ed. programs

[Kadie]

ANGER BUT NO ANSWERS ON CHENEY
THE PROBLEM: Cheney seemed not to know basic safety rule
Tom Stienstra, Chronicle Outdoors Writer

Tuesday, February 14, 2006


If Vice President Dick Cheney had followed the protocols taught 12-year-olds in hunter education programs, he never would have shot his pal last weekend while quail hunting, according to hunting safety experts.

"That's true," said Il Ling New, the nation's top female firearms instructor. "If they're taught the right things at early ages, then it can become second nature to a kid that's growing up."

snip...
New, a former national skeet champion from San Francisco who has taught hunters how to hunt birds for 10 years, said Cheney's accident would have been avoided if any of the four primary rules of hunting safety had been followed.

"What happens with wing shooters ... is they focus on the birds flushing out and some of the safety rules fall away," New said. "They don't keep the four safety rules at the forefront of their thoughts."

New said these rules are: 1. Treat all guns as loaded. 2. Don't point your muzzle at anything you're not willing to destroy. 3. Never place your finger near the trigger until you've sighted the target. 4. Be certain of your target and what's around it -- behind it, beside it and under it.

It was apparently item No. 4 that resulted in a problem for Cheney.

more...
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/02/14/MNG2JH85HK1.DTL

[LeftNYC]

1. Am I the only one disturbed by 12 year old hunting education

programs?

[MnFats]

3. well, as a Boy Scout in junior high we got some basics...

...in firearm safety. Not that we'd all become hunters, (i never did) but the leadership thought it wise to impart some safety education.
among the lessons:
* always know what's in your line of fire;
* never point a gun at something you don't intend to shoot
* always know where every member of your party is before shooting
* the shooter is ALWAYS responsible for SHOOTING BIRDS (or deer, for example) and NOT PEOPLE!
SIMPLE shit the Veep apparently did not know....

the V.P. should be charged....maybe they do things differently in Texas but where I come from, you put somebody in intensive care with an errant shotgun blast there will be an investigation and possibly a 'reckless discharge' complaint.

and if the authorities had been notified in a timely fashion...there would be a determination whether alcohol was a factor...which i still suspect despite the denials...

[slide to the left]

8. My brother

accidentally shot my dad once, right in between the eyes (it was a richochet). He was at least 30 yards away and an my dad almost lost an eye.

Always know what is down range. My bro is now in route to Korea, he is a much better shot now.

[napi21]

4. Why does that disturb you? n/t

[LeftNYC]

6. I dont know...12 year olds with guns...

Education is good but the image of a 12 year old with a gun scares me...

[napi21]

9. It's much better to teach kids what guns can do, and how to handle them

safely than it is to just try to keep them away from them. Somebody somewhere is going to have a gun. In their house, or at a friends, and curiosity can create BIG trouble!

My husband was taught at a much younger age than 12, and so were my two boys.

[LeftNYC]

11. I am all for education programs...

12 year olds with guns is a risky proposition.

[Hobarticus]

13. Speaking for people who grew up hunting and around guns...

I live in Iowa, and hunting's a part of growing up for a lot of kids. Regardless of how anyone may feel about the humanity of hunting, it's a part of life in some parts of the country. It's a matter of enviornment. Gun safety doesn't make much sense in a metropolitan area, but in rural America, it's a fact of life.

It is far, far better that these kids get basic gun safety. I had a gun safety course in junior high, as a gym elective. But by that time, I'd had basic gun safety drilled into my head by my elders. There was no grey area; guns were to be treated with respect at all times.

That said, I'd trust a twelve year-old with basic gun safety education over an adult with little or none. I've been around both, and I'll take my chances with the kid anytime.

[Kadie]

14. Thank you for your post.

Very well said.

[mcscajun]

10. Not as disturbing as this story out of Stafford, VA

STAFFORD, Va. (AP) - The Stafford County sheriff's office says an apparent hunting accident has taken the life of a 7-year-old boy.

Sheriff Charles Jett says the incident happened Saturday off Mountain View Road.

Major David Decatur says the boy has been identified as Luke Howard Wyatt. He was pronounced dead Monday at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg.

Authorities aren't identifying the person who shot the boy.

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0206/302622.html

STAFFORD -- A 7-year-old boy who was shot in the head in a hunting-related accident during the weekend died Sunday, Stafford County authorities said yesterday.

Luke H. Wyatt and his father were part of a group preparing to go goose hunting Saturday morning when the shooting occurred, Stafford Sheriff Charles Jett said.

An unidentified person in the hunting party was loading a 12-gauge shotgun in the rear of a sport utility vehicle when the firearm discharged and projectiles struck the boy, who was outside the vehicle, Jett said.

(snip)

The sheriff said the shooting, which occurred on the property where the boy lived, appears to have been an accident. Authorities could not be reached to comment on whether their investigation is complete.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137834076850&path=!news&s=1045855934842

[fishnfla]

2. The metaphor is Iraq

Know your target and whats beyond and around

[ComerPerro]

5. Number 2 wasn't a problem at all, it seems

2. Don't point your muzzle at anything you're not willing to destroy.

And we all know how much Cheney values human life...

[Hobarticus]

7. Twelve year-olds aren't liqoured up, either...

I grew up around hunters and guns, and basic gun safety has been drilled into my head since I was a kid. You can't tell me that he was fully in control of his faculties.

Not to fan the flames, but given the long delay in notifying law enforcment, it's the only reasonable explanation. Something stinks.

[warrens]

12. Looks like he broke all four

That's roughly what I was taught when I was 12 or 13, particularly the keep your damn finger off the trigger til you're ready to fire at a target part. If his finger had been on the trigger guard, where it belonged, until he had birds in his sights, this never would have happened.