gnu:

Cheney WAS licensed, ...

Ummm, nope. Needed a quail stamp. Didn't have it.

... Cheney WAS a sport,...

If you're of the opinion that saying "Go f*** yourself" to a Senator is a "sport".    ;-)

... Ted Kennedy was NOT present, ...

Why? Would he have shot Kennedy? I think you missed the prior poster's point. (hint: he was helping Cheney's case a bit by the comparison)

... and, of course, the resposibility remains with the shooter... UNLESS SOME IDIOT FUCKS UP AND WALKS INTO YOUR LINE OF FIRE!!!!

Ummmm, nope. You're responsible for making sure that what's in front of you is something you want to hit ... when you pull the trigger. That's the way it works. Bullets (and shot) move a whole lot faster than people can. Good example of this is deer hunting with a thirty ought: If you can't see where your bullet is going to end up through foliage, etc., you shouldn't be pulling the trigger. Lots of people ignore this, and lots of people get hurt because of this. Which is why my brother refuses to go out in rifle season rather than bow/shotgun season. But that's just prudence on his part; if he went in rifle season and someone shot him, it would still be their fault albeit his misfortune. IOW, just because you can't see clearly is NOT something that absolves you of responsibility (this WRT the "sun's in my eyes" cockamamie various Cheney apologist have tried to float). As for whether the guy "walked into [Cheney's] line of fire", guess we don't know that ... but it's irrelevant! Cheney's "line of fire" shouldn't have been at another person.

Gnu, I notice you're getting a bit testy here. Why?

Cheers,