If the lawyer was at death's door then I agree, this would be a sick joke. But he isn't.
Unlike most hunting accidents this IS a laughing matter. No bones were broken, no damage done. Cheney and his friend are fine. I am honestly amazed at the huffy tenor of the original article: Franken made an excellent joke and we should give him credit for it.
Actually, I too think it's a funny joke---but like most of what comes out of Franken's mouth, its proper context would and should be something spoken to a small circle of friends. Franken can't distinguish between basically what should be offered in print or uttered in public, and what should be "kept to oneself". He is operating with the same anarchic abandon and energy as he did when a writer/performer on SNL. He's like a new media-acceptable version of Abbie Hoffman, of Yippie fame from the late 60s-early 70s.
Even so, Dick needs to be a little more careful.
I grew up around guns and still own quite a few today...brought my collection from Texas to California and don't want to sell any of them. They haven't been shot in quite some time and I have a feeling there's a mess inside that safe but I just don't have the time anymore.