One of the rumors flying around the Cheney shooting states that this type of accident occurs regularly in hunting. It turns out that is not really the case.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Texas only had 2.7 hunting accidents per 100,000 hunting licenses. Perhaps, Cheney does not count because he did not get the required permits and was thus hunting illegally.
More at ThinkProgress.
You are absolutely right that no statistic is perfectly accurate. On the other hand, however, it is required by law that anyone hospital that treats a person for a bullet wound, whether it be a 22 or pellets, must be reported to the police. It is my assumption that wounds such as Mr. Whittington’s require medical attention and thus would be treated at a hospital and reported. Besides, even with a wide margin of error for such a possiblity, it would seem unlike to skew the overall result.
Something to say?
You should realize that Texas only had 2.7 accidents REPORTED. That certainly doesn’t mean they didn’t occur. The only reason this is being so widely publicized, ridiculed, and criticized is because Cheney is the VP.
Left by Amanda on February 15th, 2006