More details on Cheney's fun with guns yesterday - from Dallas.

[FormerRepublican]

"A 78-year-old prominent Austin attorney remained hospitalized in stable condition Sunday after he was accidentally shot by Vice President Dick Cheney during a South Texas quail hunt.

Harry Whittington, a millionaire civil attorney known as a tenacious battler not afraid to fight City Hall, was being treated in the intensive care unit at a Corpus Christi hospital after he was sprayed with birdshot during an incident at the Armstrong Ranch in Kenedy County on Saturday afternoon.

"Harry is in good spirits and fine shape," said Dallas businesswoman Katharine Armstrong, owner of the ranch. "He's sitting up in bed, cracking jokes."

She estimated that he remained in the ICU out of an abundance of caution by hospital staff."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/washington/stories/021206dnnatcheney.1e9c2920.html

He did have surgery, and was hit with about 80 pellets.

[niyad]

1. 80 pellets? how many rounds is that (sorry, I know nothing about

hunting) that sounds like an awful lot for an "accidental" shooting. I mean, quail are little things--hit one with 80 pellets and there wouldn't be a lot left, I would think.

[MercutioATC]

2. Birdshot...a shell with hundreds of very small pellets inside.

One shell...one shot. It would be funny, however, if Cheney had shot him twice...

:)

[BikeWriter]

5. He was probably using 7-1/2 shot. They're very small.

[tuvor]

3. He's in ICU because they're being CAUTIOUS?

:spray:

Yeah, right.

[f-bush]

14. How many of our working poor would be held in ICU as a precaution?

[carolinalady]

16. Yep especially if it is a small hospital. I used to run a small

hospital 50 beds and we would keep anyone who was sick enough to be there but not flown out in the ICU because the best nurses were there.

[FreedomAngel82]

18. If they're really small

can they hurt a lot? Sorry I know nothing on hunting.

[EstimatedProphet]

21. Depends

If it's, say 50 yards or more, it'll draw blood, possibly. If it's 100 yards it'll likely just bounce off.
If it's 10 yards it'll rip a hole a foot and a half wide right through him.

[BikeWriter]

4. It says 50 birdshot pellets now! Stll, he must have been shot...

nearly point blank! A small gauge like that doesn't have many pellets.

[PsN2Wind]

7. Actually although not knowing what shot size

he was using there are a sizable number of shot in a 28 gauge shell. There are 169 #6, 262 #7 1/2 and 307 #8 in a standard shell. Even at that though the guy must have been pretty close since with a double on birds that are kicked up it's common practice to use the more open choke first so the shot spreads quickly and the tighter choke for when the bird is further out.

[BikeWriter]

8. I agree with each of your points.

[daleo]

9. So he hit him with 25% to 50% of the pellets in the shell

It couldn't have spread that much then, maybe 3 or 4 feet? I wonder how far away he was from Cheney.

[robbedvoter]

10. Geez! Like our numbers at protests! Smaller with every new writing!

[BikeWriter]

22. Well, you know the * crime family manipulates the "liberal" media.

[bluethruandthru]

6. I'm still trying to figure out how the guy came up behind

Cheney...but Cheney shot him in the face???

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

19. The current story is that the victim walked up behind Cheney, at that

moment, the birds were flushed, and Cheney wheeled around and fired hitting this guy.

How that absolves Cheney of responsibility for the shooting is beyond me.

I guess if you suddenly turn and shoot, you aren't responsible for looking before you shoot.

[FreedomAngel82]

20. Maybe his gun was on his shoulder?

You know what I mean? When someone rests their gun on their shoulder or something? :shrug: It's strange.

[Sydnie]

11. How many of us would have been kept in ICU if it happened to us?

I can't imagine very many would be. They would dig out the shot and send us on our way. It's nice when you can pay for that kind of care and sucks when you can't.

[Maddy McCall]

12. Maybe he's hurt worse than we are being told...

maybe his stay in ICU was more necessary than anyone wants to say.

[niyad]

13. he's listed in "stable" condition-- which makes me wonder just how

seriously he was injured.

medical personnel-- is a person usually kept in icu "in an excess of caution"? or just in a regular hospital room?

this smells.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

15. No, someone with really superficial wounds, who hadn't lost much blood

etc., would generally NOT be kept in the ICU. The only reason I can think of is if the shooting victim had a precarious medical condition before like bad heart disease (like Cheney's, ironically), where even with a minor injury they might be worried about them having a heart attack or whatever.

Another reason might be if there was enough tissue damage around the face and neck that they might worry that swelling over time could cause a gradual compromise to his ability to breathe.

Between the fact that there were so many pellets (50-80 according to report), that he was hit in the head/face, neck, chest, and the fact that he's in the ICU, "extra precautions" or not, I would suspect he was more seriously injured than what they are trying to portray in the public statements.

Aside from the great expense (not an issue for this guy or for Cheney), keeping people in an ICU who don't need to be there is a very bad idea, it's a great place to pick up various drug resistant bacteria from the many ill patients who have to stay there.

[FreedomAngel82]

17. Accident my ass

How could eighty pellets get in a guy like that on accident?