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Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Cheney Hunting Accident Demo

PANAMA CITY, Fla. - It could be called “The Shot Heard ‘Round the Country,” when Vice President Dick Cheney accidently fired upon and injured hunting pal Harry Whittington.

The gun of choice was a .28-gauge shotgun, one of the smallest of the shotgun family.

“A .28-gauge is a very popular size for quail and dove hunting,” Jim Wilson, producer of the show “Florida Outdoor Adventures” said. “You have a lot of birds flying so you have plenty of pellets, about 250.”

The .28-gauge shells are just under 3 inches in length and packed with size 7.5 shot; a tiny pellet about the size of a single grape seed.

“The impact is pretty strong when you consider a couple of pellets can kill a small bird,” Wilson said.

Quail shooters like the .28-gauge because it creates a wall of shot when it hits the bird.

The Vice President was only 25 to 30 yards away from Whittington when he fired.

We set-up our own demonstration. Placing a wooden dummy 90 feet away and firing.

After shooting the gun, the pellets have peppered the face and torso area on the firing dummy. At least 200 bb’s have penetrated the target.

“Thirty-yards is not very far away,” Wilson said. “You could do quite a lot of damage to a human.”

Harry Whittington is expected to be in the hospital for another week after suffering a mild heart attack when a pellet in his chest traveled to his heart.

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