Cheney incident should serve as a good reminder

Out hunting quail, Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shoots a wealthy Republican donor who is also a lawyer.

Thankfully, the victim, Harry Whittington of Austin, Tex., is in stable condition after being treated for pellet wounds to the face, neck and chest.

Sometimes the comedians have it too easy. The jokes started as soon as the incident was reported.

It was also interesting to observe how little much of the national media knows about hunting. One NPR reporter said the lawyer was peppered with "buckshot," for instance, while another story referred to Whittington being peppered with "28-gauge pellets."

The incident also quickly became a lightning rod for anti-hunting, anti-gun activists who ignored the fact that Cheney is a careful sportsman and Whittington failed to announce to his hunting companions that he had returned to their area.

Hunting accidents are no laughing matter. They are taken seriously in the Golden Plains, and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Legislature have gone to great lengths to enhance public safety, requiring hunter and bow hunter education classes for upcoming hunters, for example.

And the effort is paying off. During the 2005 season, for example, Nebraska recorded the lowest number of hunting-related shooting incidents without a fatality in 13 years.

Of 2005's eight hunting-related incidents involving injuries, one involved a bowhunter who was severely injured when he fell from a tree while moving a tree stand, Another involved an upland bird hunter who died of an apparent heart attack while hunting. Four other incidents occurred when hunters accidentally shot themselves, three involving a rife, two a shotgun and one muzzleloader. Only two involved one hunter shooting another.

"All of the incidents would have been prevented if the people involved had followed the safety rules taught during every hunter and bow hunter education class," said Mike Streeter, Nebraska's hunter education coordinator.

Cheney's incident should serve as a good reminder of that.