Dcast if your company goes into an old building with lead window weights they don't have to do jack except take them to recycling for some money.

Lead in paint and lead in bullets is very different, that's why shooting ranges aren't hazardous waste sites.

You been reading Sierra Club email alerts?

Boy, if we could only ban the Antis. Wouldn't that be great for Sportsmen?
I wish the EPA would concentrate its efforts on the air pollution that is caused by law breaking factory smoke stacks.

In my experience, lead ammunition has lethal effects on wildlife. But isn't that the point?

I agree with "rock rat" Just another way the anti's are trying to interfere with our sports, bogging up gov't with frivilous actions costing money that is better spent
on protecting the enviroment from real problems.

I live and hunt in CA and have been dealing with the unfortunate results of a lead-ban for several years now.

The CBD, Perigrine Falcon fund and others sold the state a bill of goods that lead bullets were killing condors.

And it was true, the condors were dying of lead poisoning. What was hottly contested was the source of the lead. The hunting community lost.

We've been lead-free in much of the state for almost 5 years now, with a 99.9% compliance rate and guess what?

The condors are still dying from lead poisoning and the enviromental folks sold us all a pack of lies.

Fight this where ever you find it because lead free ammo is expensive and not as good as advertised nor as readily available as you might think.

$50 for a box of 30-06? $15 for a box of slugs? Really?

At risk of winning the broken record award...

This CBD action is another strike in a war of attrition. The hope is, if they keep beating this drum loud enough and long enough, someone is finally going to dance to their tune.

What is the end game? As much as I hate to get into the conspiracists' boat, everything about this points to an attack on hunters and shooters. The "evidence" from these organizations is largely trumped up and over-inflated. The effects of spent lead ammo are nowhere near as dire or dangerous as they'd have us believe. This is a hard-core PR campaign that hurts hunters and shooters, regardless of whether or not the EPA ever decides to try to make a ruling on it.

But... that doesn't mean there's no truth in this at all.

Very real evidence does show that, in some cases, spent lead bullets and shot are killing non-targeted birds. At this point, with the research that's been done, you'd have to be living under a rock to deny that this is happening. The emperor may not be wearing much, but he's not naked.

Of course, you risk killing more wildlife on your drive to the trailhead, and the CBD lawyers kill at least as many on the way to the courthouse each time they file one of these misguided actions. The truth of the matter is that lead ammo has a miniscule impact on most bird and wildlife species, especially compared with other voluntary activities in which most humans participate.

Does that mean we just say, "the hell with it," and turn our attention to other things? I don't think so.

Some of us (many?) are already making voluntary efforts to reduce our unintended impacts on wildlife by switching to lead-free ammunition. It's not a bad way to go, and most hunters are finding that there are lead-free bullets/loads that are very effective. For hunters who do take conservation really seriously, this is a fairly small thing to do.

That doesn't mean it's the right choice for every hunter or shooter. Lead-free options simply don't exist for all calibers, and the options that do exist aren't universally effective or accurate in every gun. It's expensive (although not much more than some of the other "premium" ammunition), and that can be prohibitive for some hunters and shooters. And honestly, while I personally have found lead-free bullets to perform very well, they do present some learning hurdles compared to some of the more commonly used lead bullets. I also have some concerns about the use of copper bullets in certain environments where pass-throughs can actually be dangerous to other hunters or property.

As a voluntary option, I support hunters switching to lead-free when it's practical. But we need to fight against these efforts to legislate a ban, especially as the efforts are based on faulty science. However, to fight this effectively, we need to educate ourselves and stop falling back on the knee-jerk reactions and ignorant denial.

By the way, Dann... while I agree with much of what you said about the CA lead ban's lack of immediate results, the Peregrine Fund was not involved in any of the CA lead ban legislation or debate, nor are they supporting the current CBD lawsuits. Throughout the entirety of this discussion, they have maintained the stance that a switch to lead-free ammo should be a voluntary decision by concerned and educated hunters.

Here's something else to consider. By using their so called findings is it logical to conclude that large if not lethal concentrations of lead should be found in the birds, plants, animals and humans around battlefields such as Gettysburg, Antietam and the battlefields of WW1 and WW2 in Europe and the Pacific. Large amounts of lead would be heavily concentrated in these areas and the frost would push much of this to the surface. Plants would have absorbed it and livestock, wildlife and even humans would have fed on these plants and animals. I know this sounds gruesome but can we also conclude that the scavengers that come to gorge themselves in the aftermath of a battle would be dropping dead from lead poisoning. The last point I would make is that the occasional BB swallowed while consuming wild game would be multiplied in the American pioneer that consumed large amounts of game, yet lead poisoning from consumption was not a major cause of death among the pioneers. We need to challenge the findings by these so called experts who claim to be scientists but more often are agenda driven political hacks.

I have been exposed to lead my entire life. My father was a house painter [lead paint and caulk] and myself working for a large utility. I can say there is one fundamental point that is being missed. Lead in order to cause you harm has to be reduced to the microscopic level. You can swallow a shiny bullet. The next day you will see that bullet and suffer no ill effects. Lead oxide is another story. That can be absorbed quiet readily. Probably the most dangerous property is the ability of lead to make plastics UV protected and colors fade resistant. This is used WIDELY in industry and abroad. A quick example back when the hysteria started. Our company offered free lead screening. A repairman came up with the highest concentration in the company. Since he does not come into contact with any lead in his work a day world. The powers that be wanted to see how he had such a high level. The punch line was; he had quiet smoking. In order to satisfy that desire to have something in his mouth. He would chew on the plastic jacket of inside phone wire. Which was UV protected. So the moral of the story. Don't be so concerned with junior eating the Duck for dinner. Be more concerned with him chewing his plastic toys or colorful Barney towel.