Lead Ban in MA & AZ up

TScottW99 · Jan 16, 2008

Not really the proper forum for this, however with Nosler's new E-Tips it surely fits in....

Monday, January 14, 2008

House Bill 783 and Senate Bill 558 introduced by State Representative Jay Kaufman (D-15th Middlesex) and State Senator Steven Tolman (D-2nd Suffolk & Middlesex) would create a more restrictive policy regarding the use of "toxic chemicals" in the Commonwealth. Hidden within the proposal from environmental and anti-gun extremists is what amounts to a ban on all common rifle and handgun ammunition.

"The Safer Alternatives Proposals" will create a program to replace ten "chemicals" with what proponents claim are safer alternatives. On the top of the list of targeted substances is lead, the common element used to make virtually all bullets. As proposed, this legislation could virtually shut down all shooting ranges as well as ban the sale and use of lead ammunition for self-defense, hunting and target practice in Massachusetts. Non-lead alternatives exist for ammunition but are significantly more expensive and, in many instances, have sub-standard performance characteristics. Shooting ranges already fall under federal EPA regulations concerning environmental impact and recent science and EPA guidelines show that lead ammunition on shooting ranges can be managed without detrimentally affecting the environment. Predictably, this legislation does not account for the serious impacts on shooting ranges and the sportsmen and gun owners who use them.

Please call or write your State Legislator and respectfully request that the lead ammunition be completely excluded from the scope of the legislation. This step is essential in order to protect the future availability of ammunition commonly used for self-defense, hunting and the shooting sports in the Commonwealth! Contact information for your State Legislator can be found at http://www.mass.gov/legis/ .

http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=3362

Anti-Hunting and Anti-Gun Extremists Attempt to Impose California-Style Lead Ammo Ban on Arizona’s Hunters

Monday, January 14, 2008

As many of you know all too well, California’s gun bans and environmental extremism have an unfortunate tendency to migrate east. There is no more recent example of this than California’s three month-old lead ammunition ban imposed on all hunters within the vast condor range that covers nearly one-third of the state’s land mass. Arizona has a “nonessential experimental” population of condors and the California extremists are now moving across the border to impose their unjustified lead ammunition prohibition on hunters in the Grand Canyon State.

The most current science on the subject concludes that the claim implicating lead ammunition as a major source of elevated lead in free-ranging condors is not supported by the reports introduced into the public policy debate thus far. The so-called “science” that the animal “rights” and environmental extremists have been citing throughout the process has been proven to be agenda-driven. While state legislators and game commissioners in California chose to buckle under the political pressure, much more should be expected from Arizona’s Commission members. They have a history of ensuring their policy decisions are guided by sound science, not the political winds of the day.

On Friday, January 18, at the Arizona Game and Fish Commission meeting, animal “rights” and environmental extremists are expected to turnout in order to pressure members of the Commission to implement a lead ammunition ban. Agenda Item 10 would be the most logical place for them to make their push as it pertains to “issues associated with lead from spent ammunition.”

It is absolutely critical that NRA members and hunters fill the meeting room in order to counter the high-pressure scare tactics of the environmental extremists! Let the Commissioners hear from you! Tell them that the best available science does not justify a prohibition of lead ammunition and that the current voluntary program in the condor range is working well. Mandatory bans have no place in Arizona!

Arizona Game and Fish Commission Meeting
Friday, January 18, 2008
8:00 a.m.
Arizona Game and Fish Department
5000 W. Carfefree Highway
Phoenix, AZ 85086
You can find the Commission Agenda at: http://www.azgfd.gov/inside_azgfd/documents/080119CommissionAgenda.pdf

If you are unable to attend, please contact the Arizona Game and Fish Commission. Contact information can be found by visiting http://www.azgfd.gov/inside_azgfd/agency_directory.shtml .