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SecularMotion

(7,981 posts)
Tue Feb 4, 2014, 07:17 AM Feb 2014

Republicans Push Lead Poisoning of Wildlife Disguised as "Sportsmen's Heritage Act"

WASHINGTON— The U.S. House of Representatives will vote Tuesday on H.R. 3590, the misnamed “Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act.” Under the guise of expanding hunting and fishing access on public lands, the Republican-supported bill aims to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from protecting millions of birds and other animals from lead poisoning. The extremist legislation also contains provisions to undermine the Wilderness Act, dispense with environmental review for projects on national wildlife refuges, and promote polar bear hunting.

“Another cynical assault by House Republicans to roll back protections for public lands and wildlife,” said Bill Snape, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This supposed ‘sportsmen’s legislation’ would actually jeopardize the health of hunters, promote needless lead poisoning of our wildlife, and prevent hunters, anglers and other members of the public from weighing in on decisions about how to manage 150 million acres of federal land and water.”

H.R. 3590 seeks to exempt toxic lead in ammunition and fishing equipment from regulation under the Toxic Substances Control Act, the federal law that regulates toxic substances. The EPA is currently allowed to regulate or ban any chemical substance for a particular use, including the lead used in shot and bullets. Affordable, effective nontoxic alternatives exist for lead ammunition and lead sinkers for all hunting and fishing activities.

Spent lead from hunting is a widespread killer of more than 75 species of birds such as bald eagles, endangered condors, loons and swans, and nearly 50 mammals. More than 265 organizations in 40 states have been pressuring the EPA to enact federal rules requiring use of nontoxic bullets and shot for hunting and shooting sports.

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2014/lead-02-03-2014.html


Fucking Republicans
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Republicans Push Lead Poisoning of Wildlife Disguised as "Sportsmen's Heritage Act" (Original Post) SecularMotion Feb 2014 OP
Expanding on that barely existing comment, ManiacJoe Feb 2014 #1
is there scientific data to back up the claim or gejohnston Feb 2014 #2
I cannot speak to the research, ManiacJoe Feb 2014 #3
I do know that the feds require steel shot for gejohnston Feb 2014 #4
Many of those burst barrel stories were because oneshooter Feb 2014 #6
When I have hunted waterfowl, I use Kent Polyshot, or Eleanors38 Mar 2014 #8
I talked with an employ of an ammo manufacturer Eleanors38 Feb 2014 #7
Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden gejohnston Feb 2014 #5
I use non toxic bullets mog75 Mar 2014 #9
If the agency in question is EPA rather than the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, benEzra Apr 2014 #10

gejohnston

(17,502 posts)
2. is there scientific data to back up the claim or
Tue Feb 4, 2014, 10:16 PM
Feb 2014

is it just the claim of a special interest group who may or may not be scam to separate well meaning but naive people from their money like these guys:
http://www.wildhorsepreservation.org/
FWIW, I have never seen cattle grazing in the Red Desert or on White Mountain.
Many government scientists, including biologists from California's game dept, question the methodology and validity of anti lead research.
I'm agnostic on the subject until the science convinces me either way.

ManiacJoe

(10,136 posts)
3. I cannot speak to the research,
Tue Feb 4, 2014, 10:25 PM
Feb 2014

but lots of WA state is now regulated to non-lead shot for birds. At this point, I am surprised that the industry has not gone that way already.

gejohnston

(17,502 posts)
4. I do know that the feds require steel shot for
Tue Feb 4, 2014, 10:30 PM
Feb 2014

migratory birds since 1991. I remember reading scare stories about bursting gun barrels etc.

 

Eleanors38

(18,318 posts)
8. When I have hunted waterfowl, I use Kent Polyshot, or
Wed Mar 19, 2014, 08:55 PM
Mar 2014

(formerly) Bismuth -- highly frangible bismuth, coated in tin plate to keep the bismuth from shattering everwhere, even as it scrunches down similarly to lead. Works well, but expen$ive. There is a move to toward conventional iron, as opposed to Heavyshot iron which is also expensive.

Winchester now has cubed-shaped shot, like highly camfered dice to aid in shot cohesion (less clumping & fewer fliers) once in flight.

Just gassing, but the future may be larger and more massive iron shot with cups which are better able to keep the unforgiving metals from damaging my old Stevens db and 53 yr old Wingmaster. And do so at a reasonable cost.

 

Eleanors38

(18,318 posts)
7. I talked with an employ of an ammo manufacturer
Thu Feb 6, 2014, 01:58 PM
Feb 2014

a few yrs back, and he said that within a few more years, most hunting ammo would be non-toxic. I also read in F & S where copper bullets for big game performed similarly to lead-based bullets. Nothing new, here.

gejohnston

(17,502 posts)
5. Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden
Tue Feb 4, 2014, 10:41 PM
Feb 2014

and a few other countries banned lead ammo for hunting years ago. With the exception of Netherlands, the other three have fairly large gun ownership rates, at least higher than Florida's, so there should be a good sized market for them. Many militaries use lead free for various reasons.

mog75

(109 posts)
9. I use non toxic bullets
Tue Mar 25, 2014, 01:26 PM
Mar 2014

even though north Dakota doesn't require them in rifles. After trying the Barnes x I will never go back to lead(several other companies are making copies of this bullet now). Same with their varmint bullets. Better accuracy and far more effective than lead bullets. As to shotgun shells, steel shot was terrible at longer distances and I almost gave up waterfowl hunting. That was until I tried Remington's wingmaster HD, this ammunition is better than lead shot. So, I don't really have a use for lead projectiles of any kind anymore. The non toxic alternatives are just way more effective. I don't know why anyone would even want to use lead now that we have this more lethal ammunition.

benEzra

(12,148 posts)
10. If the agency in question is EPA rather than the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service,
Sun Apr 6, 2014, 10:47 AM
Apr 2014

then that portion of the bill may be a response to EPA's various trial balloons about restricting lead ammunition in general, not merely F&WS restrictions on what you can use when hunting. If you look at the bill's table of contents (below), it covers recreational shooting and marksmanship training also, not just the small niche that is hunting.

Hunting rounds are a very, very small subset of the ammunition market; the vast majority of gun owners are nonhunters, and target shooters shoot a lot more than hunters do. For nonhunting ammunition, there are *not* good alternatives to lead that are both affordable and legal.

In handgun calibers and small to intermediate rifle calibers, many of the best lead alternatives are banned by Federal law as "armor piercing", and would be prohibitively expensive for large-scale target shooting and plinking even if they were un-banned.

http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?q=bill/hr-3590-the-sportsmen-s-heritage-and-recreational-enhancement-share-act-of-2013

Here's the bill table of contents:

Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
TITLE I—HUNTING, FISHING AND RECREATIONAL SHOOTING
PROTECTION ACT
Sec. 101. Short title.
Sec. 102. Modification of definition.
TITLE II—TARGET PRACTICE AND MARKSMANSHIP TRAINING
SUPPORT ACT
Sec. 201. Short title.
Sec. 202. Findings; purpose.
Sec. 203. Definition of public target range.
Sec. 204. Amendments to Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act.
Sec. 205. Limits on liability.
Sec. 206. Sense of Congress regarding cooperation.
TITLE III—PUBLIC LANDS FILMING
Sec. 301. Purpose.
Sec. 302. Annual permit and fee for film crews of 5 persons or fewer.
TITLE IV—POLAR BEAR CONSERVATION AND FAIRNESS ACT
Sec. 401. Short title.
Sec. 402. Permits for importation of polar bear trophies taken in sport hunts
in Canada.
TITLE V—PERMANENT ELECTRONIC DUCK STAMP ACT
Sec. 501. Short title.
Sec. 502. Definitions.
Sec. 503. Authority to issue electronic duck stamps.
Sec. 504. State application.
Sec. 505. State obligations and authorities.
Sec. 506. Electronic stamp requirements; recognition of electronic stamp.
Sec. 507. Termination of State participation.
TITLE VI—ACCESS TO WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT
PROJECTS ACT
Sec. 601. Short title.
Sec. 602. Protecting Americans from violent crime.
TITLE VII—WILDLIFE AND HUNTING HERITAGE CONSERVATION
COUNCIL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Sec. 701. Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council Advisory Com-
mittee.
TITLE VIII—RECREATIONAL FISHING AND HUNTING HERITAGE
AND OPPORTUNITIES ACT
Sec. 801. Short title.
Sec. 802. Findings.
Sec. 803. Definitions.
Sec. 804. Recreational fishing, hunting, and shooting.
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