WASHINGTON, Feb 14: Vice President Dick Cheney was given a warning citation on Monday for breaking Texas hunting law by failing to buy a $7 stamp allowing him to shoot upland game birds.
The warning came from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department after it investigated Mr Cheney’s accidental shooting of a fellow quail hunter on Saturday on the private Armstrong Ranch in the southern part of the state.
The department found the main factor contributing to the accident was a ‘hunter’s judgment factor’ when Mr Cheney sprayed another hunter while aiming at flying birds. No other secondary factors were found to have played a role.
The report said the victim, prominent Republican attorney Harry Whittington of Texas, was retrieving a downed bird and stepped out of the hunting line he was sharing with Mr Cheney. “Another covey was flushed and Cheney swung on a bird and fired, striking Whittington in the face, neck and chest at approximately 30 yards,” the report said.
The accident was joke fodder for late-night comics and even at the White House, where President George Bush was welcoming the burnt orange-and-white University of Texas championship football team on Tuesday afternoon.
“The orange that they’re wearing is not because they’re concerned that the vice president may be there,” joked White House press secretary Scott McClellan. “That’s why I’m wearing it.”
The president’s brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, took a similar jab after slapping an orange sticker on his chest from the Florida Farm Bureau that read: “No Farmers, No Food.”
“I’m a little concerned that Dick Cheney is going to walk in,” the governor cracked during an appearance in Tampa.
Mr Cheney, an experienced hunter, has not commented publicly about the accident and has been avoiding the media. His office said in a statement that the vice president had a $125 non-resident hunting licence and has sent a $7 cheque to cover the cost of the stamp.
“The staff asked for all permits needed, but was not informed of the $7 upland game bird stamp requirement,” the statement said. Mr Whittington, the lawyer shot at by Mr Cheney, also received a warning for failing to have the stamp. A department spokesman said warnings are being issued in most cases because the stamp requirement only went into effect five months ago and many hunters are not aware of it.
Mr Whittington was in stable condition at a hospital and was moved from intensive care to a ‘step-down unit’ on Monday. Doctors decided to leave several birdshot pellets lodged in his skin rather than try to remove them.—AP
