Blaming the Victim
Almost all the accounts I've seen about Cheney's friendly fire incident have ostentatiously apportioned a significant amount of the blame to the victim. Now, I don't bird hunt, and I'm not sure that my family's hunting practices were orthodox, so I semi-consciously let this pass, tacitly concluding that there were some hunting protocols that I was unaware of.
Only last night, and only after I heard someone else mention how odd this is did it really hit me: this is--again, unless the hunting protocols I learned were radically non-standard--insane. Here's the rule I was taught: you never, ever take a shot unless you know where you're putting the round...and that includes knowing where it's going to go if you miss. Your shot is your responsibility.
So: are there hunting protocols I don't know about, or is this just another Bush administration double standard?
Almost all the accounts I've seen about Cheney's friendly fire incident have ostentatiously apportioned a significant amount of the blame to the victim. Now, I don't bird hunt, and I'm not sure that my family's hunting practices were orthodox, so I semi-consciously let this pass, tacitly concluding that there were some hunting protocols that I was unaware of.
Only last night, and only after I heard someone else mention how odd this is did it really hit me: this is--again, unless the hunting protocols I learned were radically non-standard--insane. Here's the rule I was taught: you never, ever take a shot unless you know where you're putting the round...and that includes knowing where it's going to go if you miss. Your shot is your responsibility.
So: are there hunting protocols I don't know about, or is this just another Bush administration double standard?
posted by Winston Smith at
9:56 AM
6 Comments:
What if there were no rhetorical questions? What would we do then?
Is anything more annoying than a rhetorical question?
Agreed.
Actually it was a real question. I could totally be wrong about this.
I do not hunt, but I know a lot of hunters, and have spent time with them target shooting, skeet shooting, and generally shooting the shit.
What I've learned about hunting, and guns in general, agrees exactly with what you said:
"you never, ever take a shot unless you know where you're putting the round...and that includes knowing where it's going to go if you miss. Your shot is your responsibility."
I have not encountered a hunter who doesn't hold to this exact same standard.
Haven't fired a gun in many many years, but I understand about sunset. Sounds like C was facing east, then whirled and shot west into the sun.
Ok, he's a bad hunter, and he handled the incident badly, and maybe he's lying about hitting the guy at 30 yards, and did he just have the one beer - but go check out the Abu Graib picture at Obsidian Wings and tell me this matters in the eye of God.
Yeah, I actually agree that this is less than minor compared to other stuff. I'm just *%&$ing tired of these guys getting away with bull$#!t like this.
On the other hand, I'd (justifiably) feel like a total piece of shit if I ever did something like this. And I'm smart enough to know that I'm not responsible enough to be president. Or vice-president. Cheney doesn't seem to have any understanding of his own irresponsibility.
Still, you're right. We should be thinking about other things.
I don't hunt, but I've spent time target shooting. I've never encountered any responsible gun owner who argued that anyone but the person who shoots is to blame for an accidental shooter. Perhaps if someone surprised me and tried to wrestle a gun away from me, I could blame him if I accidently shot him. If someone told me that he was going to engage in a shooting sport where bystanders were responsible for making sure they didn't get shot, I would stay far away from it. Everything I've always learned about handling firearms has been based on the assumption that I am responsible for making sure I don't put anyone else in danger with a firearm I handle, and that I have to accept and learn to deal with the carelessness of bystanders.
Adrian
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