Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

Know your target and what is beyond. Be absolutely sure you have identified your target beyond any doubt. Equally important, be aware of the area beyond your target. This means observing your prospective area of fire before you shoot. Never fire in a direction in which there are people or any other potential for mishap. Think first. Shoot second. NRA Gun Safety Rules

First things first. To say that I appreciate the flood of new readers is an
understatement and I thank everyone who has taken the time to stop by or comment.
I hope you stop by again, because let's face it, the more progressive
blogs we have with real face time the better it is for us all.

So, boys and girls, what have we learned today?

CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer reports Texas authorities are complaining that the Secret Service barred them from speaking to Cheney after the incident. Kenedy County Texas Sheriffs Lt. Juan Guzman said deputies first learned of the shooting when an ambulance was called. firedoglake

Ah, to be back on radio and have Deadeye Dick in my scope.

I'm not a hunter, but a gun lover and enthusiast, however, you
don't have to appreciate guns to get what would happen if Cheney's gun accident
were on the other political foot, so to speak. Just imagine what Ken doll Sean
Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and every other conservative would do with this story
if the situation included Al Gore or any other Democratic leader. Remember what
they did with John Kerry that day he went hunting? And he didn't even shoot
anyone. For now, I'll have to be satisfied with a podcast on the subject, which will be up later this afternoon, complete
with new sound.

And just imagine what the right-wingers would do with the Secret Service is covering for Cheney angle.

Needless to say, readers had a lot to say about Deadeye Dick. RoxPop thinks the whole thing has a movie quality to it. She's right on.

One reader, MichaelScott, foreshadowed the late-night comedy riffs we'll be hearing.
Oh, and wouldn't you know, Bill Maher
is back on Friday. Timing is everything, baby.

I recall my grandfather doing this to my uncle once, who was across a small lake when the birds flushed. Of course, my grandfather was blind in one eye from a childhood accident, and didn't see too good out of the other one, and my uncle never let him forget the incident, and never hunted with him again, IIRC.

Another reader, servetus, gives us the rundown on the Republicans' bad karma
with nature.

A brief primer on the differences among the Texas “it flies-it dies” club… Cheney: shoots people. Bush: Shot a Killdeer (a large sandpiper that lives in fields) during a dove hunt. Not a game bird, but by no means rare. Max Yzaguirre: Shot a Whooping Crane. Former head of Enron Mexico, appointed by Gov. Perry to chair the Texas Public Utilities Commission. Perry got a 25K check from Ken Lay the next day, and kept the money, even though Yzaguirre resigned under pressure following revelations that he shot, and then buried without telling anyone, one of less than 200 Whooping Cranes in the entire world, failing to mention his little criminal conviction for the same on his application.

One thing is certain, Deadeye Dick is taking many readers back to his or her
childhood. “Ronzoni Rigatoni” (ronzoni rigatoni???) grew up with shotguns.

I grew up with 3 shotguns, 12, 16 and 20 gauge, respectively. Never heard of a 28 gauge until recently, and certainly never saw one. The 20 gauge seems a li'l small for quail. My 16 gauge double barreled guy was a favorite for this kinda hunting (Never did like the 12 ga. as a lad, since it had a tendency to knock me on my ass).

Neotoma tells us about a 28 gauge shotgun, but more importantly, the bottom
line in hunting.

A 28-gauge is also an expert's gun in skeet — small pattern which means you actually have to be good at aiming, instead of relying on the scatter. The VP might have been using it for its low kick — easy on old, weak shoulders. But really, checking before you pull the trigger, and NOT shooting in the 'safe zone' behind you are basic safety precautions!

DaveM reminds us all to keep our focus on what really matters.

Don't get sidetracked by the gauge issue. The 28 gauge is not a toy, and plenty of grown men choose to use it for upland (bird) hunting. The pellets in a standard load, regardless of the gauge, are still travelling at the same velocity (it varies, but they start out around 1200 feet per second). The standard load for 28 gauge is 3/4 oz. For a 12 gauge it's 1 1/8 oz. The only difference is the number of pellets that hit the object at which the shooter is aiming. You have to be careful, and this isn't the first evidence we have of carelessness with respect to this man.

The mano e mano message if offered by Lagarita.

Now I'm not a hunter (and even I know a 28 gauge is a small child's shotgun) but wouldn't a reasonable safety rule be to wait until the bird is at some minimum height (10 feet?) before you shoot so that your gun isn't pointed horizontal where other non-flying animals (human and canine) might be? Besides, shooting little birds on the ground with a baby shotgun somehow just doesn't seem very, uh, manly.

But then Joe Beets brings us all back to reality.

Taylor, face it. Those who agree with what the Bush Administration is doing, or alternately have been convinced that the Democratic Party is evil, will NEVER believe anyone in the Administration has done anything wrong. It is pure and simple. Black and white. Just like their minds work.

I've said it in post
after post
after post
since this began. It's really up
to the NRA to repeat the gun safety issues publicly, in response to
Dick Cheney accidentally shooting a member of his own hunting party. But will they
do it? If you're a member of the NRA you should let them know what you think.