Eventually Pedro Nava wants to ban 2nd Amendment
Santa Barbara Assemblyman Pedro Nava
, Democratic candidate for Attorney General, continues his crusade to ban lead ammunition used for upland game in our State wildlife areas. Fish and Game Commission has a new take on the prior use of isotope ratio’s and pseudo science in coming to any conclusion in this debate. Listen to the testimony of Richard Rogers of the Fish & Game Commission.
Let me urge Juice readers to check out the following link and You Tube commentary.
Larry,
I can’t believe you linked to that yahoo, he’s not doing the NRA any favors, he gives “gun-nuts” a bad name.
FYI;
Leading a revolution
California’s lead bullet ban propels superior ammunition
By Bill Lentz
“….There seems to be no debate that extracted and manufactured lead is bad for the environment. Above many other industries it has been bullet and cartridge manufacturers who have taken action and are now the leaders in non-lead production, and self policing, ethical hunters who have already switched to non-lead ammo.
The Barnes bullet company, which began marketing all-copper bullets in 2003, has become widely known in the hunting industry as a producer of perhaps one the best bullets for gaining quick, ethical kills on big game. Other ammunition companies have followed, so now hunters in the lead-ban zone can still fulfill their passion for hunting while hunters across the nation now have a wider choice in ammo.
The state-of-the-art, non-lead bullets are advertised to be better constructed and more powerful than lead bullets. They retain nearly 100 percent of their weight after impact, which aids in shocking and knock down power, and they also exhibit the deepest possible penetration aiding in optimal tissue/bone damage, and exit wounds, which create blood trails necessary for finding wounded animals that could run.
Because they hold together on impact, there’s also less bloodshot meat, meaning that little precious meat is discarding during processing.
Reports of the performance of these non-lead bullets from hunters both inside and outside of the lead-ban zone has been fantastic. Many big game hunters have reported the swiftest, cleanest kills ever. Hornady Manufacturing Inc., and the Remington Company are throwing their hat into the unleaded bullet market in 2009. According to Hornady spokesman, Steve Johnson, the new GMX bullet (gilding metal expanding) is scheduled for limited release early in the year with factory rounds scheduled for market thereafter. Remington’s new “Premier Green” line of unleaded bullets features the Lapua Naturalis, an all-copper bullet from Lapua cartridges in Finland. Remington’s new Lapua Naturalis has a rounded nose and a rounded chartreuse polymer tip.
According to Lapua, they retain 99.8 percent weight retention and have bone shattering, deep penetration. As of now Remington is marketing 90-grain .243’s, 160-grain 7mm. magnums, 180-grain .30-06’s, and 180-grain .308’s “We’re marketing a 150-grain .30 caliber spitzer first,” Johnson said. “They’ll be available in .308’s, .30-06’s, .300 Winchester, and .300 Ruger Compact Magnum. Eventually we’ll make 165-gr. 30’s, 130-gr. 270’s, 139-gr. 7mm’s, and 225-gr. 338’s too.” Like Nosler’s lead-free “E-Tip” bullet (loaded by Winchester ammunition), Hornady’s GMX is not solid copper, but an alloy that’s 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc. According to Hornady, this “gilding metal” keeps bore fouling to a minimum, more so than straight copper.
Jeremy Miller, who headed the Hornady GMX project, says that testing has shown the new bullet to expand and reliably penetrate at speeds ranging from less than 2,000 feet-per-second on up to 3,400 fps.
“We wanted to give hunters more choice,” Johnson said.”
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Since their REALLY isn’t any harm from banning lead bullets, isn’t it BETTER to err on the side of caution, after all we have spent MILLIONS trying to save the California Condor.
From the NPS;
Lead Bullet Risks – Wildlife & Humans
Condors and Other Wildlife
Scientific studies have reached a consensus: lead poisoning is the biggest threat facing the successful recovery of the California condor. Since 1997, at least 18 condors from the California population have been confirmed or strongly suspected to have died from lead poisoning. Additionally, in Arizona at least 15 other condors have been documented as dying from lead poisoning.
During annual testing, the majority of free-flying condors at Pinnacles have been measured with blood lead levels that are above 10 ug/dL. This value is used by the Center for Disease Control as an initial warning sign that a human child is at risk. During Fall 2009 at Pinnacles, over one-half the flock required emergency chelation treatment for lead poisoning to prevent potential death. Several condors in the flock have now required multiple chelation treatment cycles.
Scientific studies have documented that the primary source of lead is from spent ammunition that remains in carcasses after they are shot. When a lead rifle bullet traveling at almost 3 times the speed of sound strikes animal tissue, it quickly begins to expand and loses hundreds of tiny pieces as it continues its journey. The entrails and areas that are trimmed away and left behind are often contaminated with these lead fragments. Because condors feed on carrion, are group feeders, and even small amounts of lead can sicken or kill a condor, condors are more frequently exposed to lead bullet hazards than most wildlife. However, lead poisoning through ingestion of spent lead bullet and shell shot has been demonstrated as being a serious factor for many other wildlife species too, including golden eagles, bald eagles, and turkey vultures.
However, lead poisoning through ingestion of spent lead bullet and shell shot has been demonstrated as being a serious factor for many other wildlife species too, including our national symbol, the Bald Eagle. Other scavngers affected are Golden Eagles, Ravens, and Turkey Vultures.
More than 500 scientific studies published since 1898 have documented that worldwide, 134 species of wildlife are negatively affected by lead ammunition.
Human Health Concerns
Studies are increasingly showing that lead fragments can also be found in wild game meat processed for human consumption, even though best attempts are made in the field to remove sections that are within the bullet wound channel.
A recently published scientific study examined the prevalence of lead bullet fragments in packaged venison. Thirty different white-tail deer were harvested using lead rifle bullets and then given to 30 different game meat processors. Researchers randomly selected 324 packages of ground venison and whole cuts from the processors and x-rayed them to document how many contained lead bullet fragments. Of the 324 randomly selected packages of ground venison, 34% contained metal fragments; some packages contained as many a 168 separate pieces. Further analysis positively identified the metal as 93% lead and 7 % copper.
Also, when these tainted packages were fed to domestic pigs, blood levels became elevated with 2 days of ingestion. This demonstrates that while the results are preliminary and much further study needs to be done to better assess risks to humans, it appears that the if lead bullets are used, odds are high that you will ingest lead particles in ground game meat.
Another study was conducted in North Dakota that examined ground venison packages that had been donated by hunters to food pantries. It found that 59% of the packages had lead fragments.
Lead Bullet Fragmentation
The reason lead bullets represent such a problem for anything ingesting them is that they fragmented into hundreds of tiny pieces when they strike an animal being harvested.
Breeding California condor dies of lead poisoning
Condor 303 being examined after she died from lead poisoning. Credit Ventana Wildlife Society
Dead condor a blow for species recovery
December 2009. The adult female of the only breeding pair of California Condors in San Benito County was recently rushed to the Los Angeles Zoo for emergency treatment after National Park Service biologists observed the bird exhibiting unusual behaviour. The condor’s legs were not moving properly and it had ceased to fly as often as is normal for an adult condor.
Condor #303 was originally released in Monterey by the Ventana Wildlife Society but later successfully nested in San Benito County with Condor #313, the first and only breeding pair there in approximately 70 years.
Veterinarians discovered that the condor had an extremely high level of lead in its blood stream and emergency treatment was undertaken to help the bird pass lead out of its system. Paralysis of the legs had been brought about by the neuro-toxic effects of the heavy metal. A radiograph also demonstrated that a metallic object was lodged within the condor’s digestive tract. Despite behavioural signs of recovery over two weeks of treatment, the condor still died. The cause of death was determined to be lead toxicosis.
Analyses were conducted at the University of California to determine the source of the lead. Researchers state that the lead fragment is entirely consistent with a fragment from lead-based ammunition. Condors are scavengers, only eating dead animals. Condors can inadvertently ingest lead bullet fragments lodged in animal carcasses and gut piles. Lead ammunition could be found in big game animals, such as deer, or could be from a livestock animal shot to be euthanized, or from some illegal shooting or poaching.