Lead Ban Chronicles – Lead ammo availability
Thanks to Holly, the NorCal Cazadora for passing this along… I’ve been remiss on my RSS feeds of late.
California A-zone hunters are sighting in and gearing up to start hunting in just a couple of months. The A-zone firearms season opens in mid-August. Unfortunately, as of right now, it looks like unless you use one of a handful of common calibers, you’re going to have a real tough time finding “certified” lead-free ammo for your hunt.
According to Jim Matthews’s latest piece in the San Bernardino paper, The Sun, lead-free ammo is scarce or non-existent even as the law is poised to come into effect in just over a month and a half (July 1). Not that this is news to me, but if you have been putting off getting your ammo for 2008, and you plan to hunt in the “Condor Zone”, you better get it in gear… and hope you’re not already out of luck.
Hot on the heels of this one are a couple of opportunities presented by The Institute for Wildlife Studies where hunters can try out some of the non-lead offerings on the market. T Michael Riddle, of Native Hunt Enterprises forwarded this press release to me last night.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact:
Jake Theyerl – Institute for Wildlife Studies831-524-6006
Non-Lead Ammunition Exhibitions Scheduled for May and June
The public is invited to a free “Non-Lead Ammunition Shooting Event and BBQ Lunch” on Saturday, May 17, 2008. The exhibition will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office Training Center, which is located 1 mile north of Hollister on Highway 15. The event will be repeated on June 28 at the Laguna Seca Rifle & Pistol Range, 1025 Monterey-Salinas Highway, Salinas, CA 93908.
The purpose of these events is to provide hunters and shooting enthusiasts an opportunity to evaluate the performance of non-lead ammunition using their own rifles. Participants are asked to bring their own rifles along with adequate ear and eye protection. They will be allowed to bring lead ammunition for comparison purposes.
While supplies last, approximately 10 rounds of non-lead ammunition will be provided by Bismuth Cartridge Company, Federal Premium Ammunition, and Barnes Bullets, at no cost, to each adult (over 18 years old) participant, in the following calibers: .223 Remington, 22-250 Remington, .243 Winchester, 25-06 Remington, .270 Winchester, 7mm Remington mag, .30 Carbine, 30/30 Winchester, 30.06 Springfield, or .308 Winchester. The events are free and open to the public. The Institute for Wildlife Studies has arranged for lunch to be served. Donations will be gratefully accepted.
The Exhibitions will also provide a side-by-side comparison of the performance and accuracy of traditional lead bullets with non-lead bullets made from copper and other materials.
California ranchers and hunters have a long tradition of wildlife conservation. During recent community forums, area hunters and ranchers were surveyed about their thoughts on lead poisoning in condors. Many responded that they wanted to help, requesting more information about non-lead ammunition and asking for opportunities to test this ammunition using their own rifles. Starting with the 2008 California hunting season, those hunting in zones within the range of the California Condor will be required to use only non-lead ammunition. These zones are primarily in central California.
Sponsors of these events include the Institute for Wildlife Studies, and the National Park Service. For more information, please contact the Institute for Wildlife Studies at 831.524.6006.
Do you know if this ammo ban will take place in other states? It makes sense to get rid of the lead products. Thank you for sharing this information.
May 18th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
At this time, the lead ban that we’re seeing in CA has been proposed and rejected in Arizona. Several other states are also looking at various bans on lead ammunition for other reasons. Following the recent uproar about lead particles in food-bank venison, you can count on seeing more efforts coming out. You can read through this blog for more discussion about the lead ban efforts in other states and around the world.
The problem I, and many others have regarding this ban is that it’s being imposed even though there are many calibers for which there are no non-lead alternatives. I agree, as do many, that lead ammo should eventually be phased out. But banning it while there are no choices for hunters is a dangerous precedent.
May 18th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
I have to wonder if banning lead ammo when there is not much non-lead available is part of an effort to keep people from hunting.
May 20th, 2008 at 1:59 am
Matt, that’s a suspicion shared by an awful lot of people. I tend to stay clear of the conspiracy theories most of the time, but that naivete has cost me more than once… and this thing definitely does look fishy.
What I, personally, think is likely is that the lead ban was initially a well-intentioned, if not altogether well-considered idea. It was dreamed up by some idealists with a core cause, saving the condor, and this was not a bad cause.
However, it caught the attention of the wrong folks, anti-hunting groups, who saw in it an opportunity to at least take a swipe at legal hunting from an unanticipated angle. Those groups supported the little idea, helped it grow, and helped to force it through.
These same organizations are going to grab a hold of this “lead in venison” threat and leverage that to push this agenda on the rest of the country, even though the science behind their argument is sketchy and hypothetical, not to mention totally misunderstood by the non-hunting public (intentionally so).
One big problem is pinning these groups (like the Peregrine Fund) down as anti-hunting, since they can trot out these hunters from their membership to challenge the accusation. It keeps the sketptics at arm’s length, because now you have to wonder if these hunters are duped by the organization, or if the organization believes its own hype.
It’s tricky road, proving those suspicions.
May 20th, 2008 at 6:21 am