If Your AVERAGE JOE Shot Someone While Hunting, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN???

[Beetwasher]

What would be the minimum repercussions? Will Deadeye Dick be held to the same standards???

(I friggin' LOVE the fact that we can now very appropriately call him Deadeye Dick! Man oh man, it's so fitting. Reality is a fucking trip!)

[Botany]

1. Something like

911 call
trip to the hospital
police, sheriff, or highway patrol investigates
the DNR or game commission investigates
if warranted charges are filed
trip in front of judge
loss of hunting privileges
reports in paper, tv, and radio

[Junkdrawer]

2. When the Average Joe shoots someone, a team of doctors...

instantly springs to action to try to treat the victim quietly and only when the victim is ready to die unless ICU care is given, is the victim emergency air lifted to the hospital...

When the Average Joe shoots someone, they are always given 24 hrs to sober up before the news is released to the press...

When the Average Joe shoots someone, the victim is always described as having a "great night" in the ICU...

Yep, happens every day. Just like that.

[AverageJoe]

3. I suspect I'd go to jail

:shrug:

[Wickerman]

12. lol

yes, I suspect you would.

nice

[KitchenWitch]

23. ...

Great screen name!

Had no idea we had an Average Joe in our midst!

:hi:

[Bacchus39]

4. so in other words, the VP is not your average Joe??

n/t

[murielm99]

5. I live in a rural community.

People hunt here. Deer season is a big deal.

If there is a hunting accident, it must be reported immediately. There is always some kind of investigation. The sheriff sends a deputy to do a report. The injured person is treated immediately, and the medical report is part of the report.

Usually, these things are determined to be accidents. There is a fine THAT I KNOW OF, if the person is using a gun without a FOID card, is hunting without a license, is hunting on private property without permission, or using a gun "improperly." They can usually find a reason to fine the person and confiscate the gun. I don't know if they get their guns back.

Generally, it makes the papers around here if there is a hunting accident. About eleven years ago, someone was killed accidentally while hunting. It was very tragic, because the shooter was a fourteen-year-old boy.

I suppose it is okay to give Cheney and his victim some initial consideration. It is better not to have rumors flying. But after the first twenty-four hours, Dick should be treated the same as anyone else.

They are always yelling, "Chappaquiddick! Chappaquiddick!" In the future, what do we yell at them?

[onenote]

6. if found to be accidental, no charges typically filed

Police investigate and then decide whether charges warranted. It seems unlikely that charges will be filed in this case based on the facts reported thus far.

By the way, despite a lot of uninformed (sometimes hysterically so), the way Whittington got shot is the way folks typically get shot while hunting small birds (quail, dove). Mind you, I'm NOT saying people typically get short birdhunting. Indeed, its quite rare. But when it happens, its typically because the shooter is swinging on a bird in flight outside a safe zone of fire.

onenote

[wndycty]

8. DO you think there will be an investigation?

:kick:

[onenote]

13. I think questions will be asked, answers given, report written

And in the end it will be found to be an accident. I don't think the police will drag Dick Cheney or Whittington or any of the other witnesses into the station, put them under a burning light and give them the third degree, so I think all they'll have to go on is what the shooting party tells them. About the only thing I can think of that might result in a different outcome is if the investigation turned up evidence that Cheney was impaired by alcohol or medication. And since I doubt at this point any such evidence will turn up, I think the outcome will be no charges filed.

onenote

[benburch]

11. Absolutely correct. nt

[NoMoDem]

7. It does happen,

around here about once every two years or so. The police and dept of conservation investigate, if ruled an accident, shooter might have hunting lincense revoked or suspended, usually not a big deal. Very few times have any criminal charges been brought, we have thousands of hunters a year and I can only think of one hunter being prosecuted. He was road hunting in the first place which is a criminal offense. Experienced hunters that aren't violating the law when the accident occurs usually do not face charges.

I think Cheney will probably get way with this. If it makes you feel any better, people involved in these kinds of accidents have a hard time finding hunting buddies. If the senario was how it was described, Cheney was being careless, but so was the other guy. Again, if it was the way they said it was, it's a classic hunting accident.

[Beetwasher]

9. So Was The Other Guy???? Not From What I'm Hearing

That's bullshit. The guy was behind Cheney, how was he being careless? You buy the WH spin too easily.

[NoMoDem]

18. He didn't make Cheney aware he was there.

And unless they do things differently in TX, he strayed too far form the rest of the party. In hunting, you are first responsible to know where everyone is, and let everyone know where you are. It's basic safety stuff.

[Beetwasher]

21. BULLSHIT! How Do You Know???? WTF Are You Talking About???

Total bullshit. You're regurgitating the WH propoganda. Does he have to sound off every second to let Cheney know he's there? What utter crap! This is Cheney's fault and ONLY Cheney's fault. It is ALWAYS the shooters responsibility to make sure the line of fire is clear, ESPECIALLY when doing a 180 (which you should NEVER do anyway) when you KNOW you're hunting w/ other people. WTF are you talking about?

[TX-RAT]

29. It doesn't matter who's fault it is.

If all party's involved say it was an accident, it's nothing more than an incident report. End of story.

[tyedyeto]

22. Basic safety stuff also says NEVER turn and shoot. n/t

[sendero]

28. You're..

.. pretty basically wrong. It is ALWAYS the responsibility of the shooter to NOT SHOOT PEOPLE.

If you don't know that, I hope you never touch a gun.

[leveymg]

15. Isn't Rummy a favorite shooting partner?

Wonder whether this will give him pause when Dick invites him over to his new place in St. Mary's Co., MD.

[tyedyeto]

20. Do you turn around 180 degrees and shoot?

My hunter safety instructor years ago stressed that you NEVER turn and shoot. The lawyer was behind The Dick when The Dick turned and fired. That lays all blame on the shooter.

[newyawker99]

26. Hi NoMoDem!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[mtnester]

10. This has happened in our family before

Blanks were being used for law enforcement training (certified blanks)

However, there was a live one in the batch (of certified blanks), and it ricocheted off a tree and hit someone in the leg.

Everything being listed here is what happenes, as well as mandatory drug/alcohol tests, and confiscation of the weapon used. FULL law enforcement investigation, and no DELAY to the press. That is effing UNHEARD of.

Everything turned out OK, and the blank manufacturer took care of all the doctor bills, lawyers, settlement, etc.

[Ecumenist]

14. Can I ask anyone if they know what the calibre was?

My husband said that he heard that cheney was using 28 calibre. He said that he'd never heard of that calibre. He's a GENUINE Texan, (born and bred, raised cattle and all that), used to hunt doves when he was younger and as he says, dumber and unaware. Does anyone know if there is any such calibre? He's more than a bit suspicious about the entire story. Something about confirming your target and all that.
An average joe would have to answer more than a few questions. It shouldn't be surprising considering that this person is part of a completely incompetent cabal that was such a "bad shot" in Irag AND Afghanistan. They NEVER CONFIRM THEIR TARGET!! They bomb on innuendo and rumour. They were supposed to going after the tallest man in Afganistan and not only can they capture and take him and his entourage, they kill thousands of innocents in that country and go on to shoot a country that had abolutely nothing to do with the "attacks" on September 11th. If it weren't so tragic that so mny countless thousands have died and been permanently maimed by the sheer incompetence of this bunch. Talk about the gang that can't shoot straight. They're even worse than that. How do you "accidently" shoot someone BEHIND YOU? I bet the shooting victim said something to piss cheney off...

[leveymg]

17. 28 guage - that would be a teeny- weeny one.

16 or 20 guage is standard for hunting larger animals, 28 guage is a beginner's gun for shooting birds or skeet.

[Ecumenist]

24. Thanks, Leveymag

Hubby was a bit perplexed about that...

[leftofthedial]

16. It would be investigated by law enforcement at a minimum

but Deadeye Dick is above the law

[pitohui]

19. a lot of time nothing happens

in my parish a few years back the son of the district attorney killed his friend in a drunk boating accident

he spent not one hour in jail or prison despite public outcry

when you or i have an accident, it is a criminal offense, however, when the rich or powerful have accidents, it is accepted that accidents do happen

the witch-hunting of people for being in accidents only hurts the poor and the middle class, the rich are never touched by it, so when we scream for more and more penalties for people involved in accidents, we only hurt ourselves

we all know that cheney and whittington were drunk when this happened, people do drink during outdoor recreation, always have, always will, since no one was killed and whittington is going to be okay, to them this is just going to be another wild story for their scrapbooks

[ieoeja]

25. Nothing

This isn't that rare an occurrence. My uncle blew his father-in-law's leg off. Didn't spend a minute in jail. I'm fairly certain he didn't spend a day in court, but I can check if you'd like.

[sandnsea]

27. This is the most common hunting accident

What happened to the shooter would depend on who got shot. If it was someone nobody gave a shit about, nothing would happen. If it was some muckety-muck who made a stink, the shooter would be charged. That's because this is the most common hunting accident which obviously means any bird hunter should have known he was violating common safety standards. That right there ought to put it into negligent or reckless discharge of a firearm. But I doubt anything will happen to Cheney, unless there's a specific law about calling the police after a hunting accident and he obviously didn't do that.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20050314c