GOP lawmaker accidentally shoots hunter: ‘I felt horrible’

A pro-gun Oklahoma lawmaker (R) says he’s “mad at myself” for accidentally shooting another hunter last month, according to the The Oklahoman.

“I just felt horrible about it. I just was sick,” said Rep. Steve Vaughan, who wounded the man in the head with a 12-gauge shotgun as he was aiming at a pheasant.

{mosads}“I’m a safety guy,” he said. “Gosh, I’m as safety as I can be. I was so mad at myself for even thinking about shooting the bird in this direction where I knew he was down in there.”

The lawmaker took full responsibility for the incident and said he didn’t realize the other hunter, Drew Ihrig was injured until he appeared nearly a half hour later holding up a rag to his face.

“I said, ‘You know, everybody’s shooting, (and) I don’t know that it was me, per se, but I would say it probably would have been because the bird did go that direction and I did shoot that direction,’” Vaughn said.

In 2011, the gun advocate wrote a bill to expand the use of deadly force when business owners, managers, and employees have a reasonable fear of facing death or great bodily harm.