In response to Vice President Cheney's recent hunting accident, Republican strategist and longtime gun safety authority, Mary Matalin, has begun production on a DVD designed to "teach you all you need to know about gun and hunting safety." The DVD will be sold in most Wal-Mart sporting goods sections as well as on QVC and on the internet.

Matalin's biggest challenge will be to prove to consumers that she has expertise in this field.

"I don't know why people think I don't know about guns. Do they think I let this hairdresser live?"

She took a big step toward convincing the public of her hunting prowess the day after the Cheney's accident by declaring that Cheney "was not careless or incautious . . . He didn't do anything he wasn't supposed to do."

Bold words like those about a hunter who shot a man in the face, neck and torso should go a long way to showing that Matalin is an authority on gun safety.

"Mary's got a different way of thinkin' 'bout the world, that's for sure," says Matalin's cartoon-like husband, Democratic strategist James Carville, whose retirement will include many extra hours of massage if Matalin's DVD sells briskly. "She takes traditional gun safety and shoots it in the head. And I, for one, think it is very refreshing, just as she finds my new book refreshing, I'm sure."

Getting broad support, as well as male support, will be important because critics of Matalin's new system are already voicing concern.

"I am very concerned about the suggestions she makes in these videos," says longtime hunter and family friend, Paul Begala. "Most of these suggestions, much like her political suggestions, are very counterintuitive."

The first thing viewers will notice is that Matalin has taken the number one rule of hunter safety, "Do not shoot a person" and moved it down to rule number 27. The new rule number one is, "Hunt for the love of trophies." Oddly, rule 1A, “Be especially careful not to shoot the head" has not changed.

The DVD shows Matalin dressed in designer hunting clothes demonstrating how to stalk and hunt different types of prey. At one point she suggests that flushing a deer into a circle of hunters is very safe because everyone will be closer to the animal resulting in fewer missed shots.

"This circle configuration is also great for keeping a visual on your hunting companions. When you can't see your fellow hunters, you can't be sure that you won't shoot them. If you keep them in front of you, you have a much more realistic chance of missing them. This is just common sense, hunters."

Another tip Matalin suggests is to never use the gun's built-in safety. "The safety is the moral equivalent of welfare," Matalin says in justifying this hunting safety rule. "Welfare was built to be a safety net, something to use in an emergency. But what we've found is that people use it even when they don't need it and we find the same thing of trigger safeties. You'll see people pulling on the trigger at all times because they 'know' that the safety is on. But get a hold of their gun when they are relieving themselves on a tree and turn the safety off. Know what happens? They kill their son by mistake. With my method you won't have any accidents because you won't touch the trigger until you are really ready to kill. Or you snag it on something, like a branch."

The DVD consists of about one hour of safety training ("55 more minutes than needed," according to Matalin) and hunting strategies (many of which involve automobiles and spotlights). Also included is a bloopers reel playfully titled "Guns Gone Wild."