EPA to ban lead bullets – will end sportsman shooting

Earlier I posted Last U.S. lead ammo company shut down by EPA November 4, 2013 . Now the update. One small detail the news report fails to mention. From EPA wanted to ban ammo,  December 2012

Remember this is a no-win situation for us, because bullets made of materials other than lead are often considered armor piercing by law. Copper is your basic material, and copper is expensive, and has much poorer performance properties than lead.

From The Wahington Examiner:

Here’s an astounding bit of government overreach:

NSSF [National Shooting Sports Foundation] is springing into action, as the public comment period opens on EPA considering a regulation that will ban all traditional lead ammunition. This would basically end the shooting sports as we know it. Remember this is a no-win situation for us, because bullets made of materials other than lead are often considered armor piercing by law. Copper is your basic material, and copper is expensive, and has much poorer performance properties than lead.

You can read the petition in favor of banning ammunition here, and if you can leave a public comment on it here.

(Comments closed, approved.)

Now to the latest news from Right Scoop

Whether by state or federal regulation, or by market forces, lead bullets will be all but phased out within a few years in favor of so-called green bullets, experts say. While many believe that this will help the environment by keeping lead from contaminating groundwater, others say switching to copper-based bullets will cost hunters and sportsmen more and have little effect on the environment.

“Whatever the EPA’s motivation when creating the new lead air quality standard, increasingly restrictive regulation of lead is likely to affect the production and cost of traditional ammunition,” the National Rifle Association said in a statement.

Jim Yardley a retired financial controller and blogger for americanthinker.com, estimated it would cost $18,431,000 to replace the lead with copper.

“Nearly $20 million, not to improve the effectiveness of the ammunition used by our troops, but to protect the environment,” Yardley wrote.

Read more at Right Scoop