Texas wildlife officials say that Vice President Dick Cheney was violating state law when he shot a 78-year-old attorney while hunting Saturday. The response from Cheney's office won't come as a surprise to anyone who has been following this case so far: It was somebody else's fault.
ABC and CNN are both reporting that Cheney was hunting quail without the "upland game bird stamp" required by state law. And indeed, the incident report filed by Texas Park and Wildlife officials -- and posted at the Smoking Gun -- indicates that Cheney violated Parks and Wildlife Code Section 43.652, which requires hunters to purchase the $7 stamp before setting off in search of "turkey, quail, pheasant, chachalaca and lesser prairie chicken."
CNN says that Texas officials are issuing Cheney a warning for hunting without such a stamp, which is apparently routine in such cases. According to the network, Cheney has just sent the state of Texas a check for $7 -- even as Cheney's aides insist that state officials assured them in advance that the vice president had all the permits required by law.
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