Snapshots

Vice-President Dick Cheney's role in that unfortunate wingshooting accident in February highlighted both valid safety issues and the astounding misconceptions about shotgunning held by the general public and many in the news media. Among the facts largely swept aside in the reams of reports on the incident: Hunting is an incredibly safe form of recreation.

In 2002, the latest year for which complete statistics are available, the International Hunter Education Association reported that there were just 850 hunting accidents in the country that required medical attention, with 89 of those being fatalities. With 17.9 million people hunting at least one day that year, statistics from the IHEA, the National Sporting Goods Association and the Consumer Product Safety Commission showed that hunting was among the safest sports, with one injury per approximately 21,000 hunters. (In contrast, the benign image of fishing belies the dangers related to safety around the water and perhaps also sharp objects, resulting in one injury for every 643 participants that year.)

According to the IHEA's '02 statistics, as far as hunting accidents go, Mr. Cheney's was not all that unusual. That year shotguns were involved in 54 percent of all hunting accidents (rifles were involved in 30.7 percent), and quail hunting produced just 3.1 percent of all hunting accidents (deer hunting produced 46.4 percent). National trend statistics compiled from 2000 to present show that Texas has had the highest rate of quail hunting accidents, with 13 reported, followed by California, with nine, and Kansas, with six. Most telling, though, is that of the 64 quail hunting accidents reported nationally since 2000, 41 have involved a shooter swinging on game, seven have involved a victim out of sight of the shooter, and two have involved a victim walking into a shooter's line of fire.


Sturm, Ruger & Co. recently announced the retirement of chairman and CEO William B. Ruger Jr. at the end of February. Stephen L. Sanetti, vice chairman of the board, president and chief operating officer, was named to assume Ruger's duties on an interim basis. The son of company co-founder William B. Ruger Sr., Bill Ruger Jr. worked for the firm for 42 years, during which he served as the director of manufacturing operations at the Southport, Connecticut, facility; a vice-president; and as the company's president for many years.


As anticipated, the US Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced its approval of four new nontoxic-shot types for waterfowl hunting in the US. (See "The Nontoxic Explosion," Shot Talk, Jan/Feb '06, for full details.)

The new shot types are formulations of: tungsten-iron-copper-nickel (developed by Spherical Precision, Inc.); iron-tungsten-nickel (ENVIRON-Metal, Inc.); tungsten-copper-tin-iron (Olin Corp.); and tungsten-tin-iron (Nice Shot, Inc.). In releasing its findings, the USF&WS staff wrote that ballistic and gun-damage concerns are reasons why " . . . a small percentage of hunters have not complied with nontoxic shot regulations" and added that "Allowing use of additional nontoxic shot types may encourage greater hunter compliance and participation . . . and discourage the use of lead shot."

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