The VP isn't helping by acting as if this resulted from something other than his own lack of gun control.
You here again? Sheesh.
How the heck can you make such pronouncements? You weren't there and don't know precisely what happened.
In fact, none of us knows precisely what happened. All we have is a written description that comes to us through the media filter.
Based on the description we do have, it's entirely likely Mr. Whittington was not even anywhere in the Vice President's line of sight at the moment he pulled the trigger. When a group of hunters are walking a field in a line, as was the case in this instance, everyone is supposed to stay in line. If you drop out of line for some reason, you're supposed to let your companions know, and indicate where you are in the field.
Why? When birds flush, they don't necessarily fly ahead of the line of hunters, but may fly over their heads to the rear, or to the left or right.
We do know that Mr. Whittington dropped out of line and was searching in tall grass for a bird he shot. According to the reports, he was about 30 yards behind the VP -- directly behind, or to the left or right rear, we don't know. None of the reports that I've read say that Mr. Whittington told anyone he was moving out of line to the rear of the group.
We don't know where the covy of birds that flushed at that moment were in relation to the line, the VP, or to Mr. Whittington. I have an image in my mind of the way it may have happened, but there's no way I can know for sure. In any case, I'd be willing to bet that the VP never saw Mr. Whittington when the covy flushed and he lined up his shot.