Not content to ban scary guns, the Trudeau Liberals are now considering banning lead ammunition! Both lead shot and lead-core ammunition.
That’s right. Banning lead ammo. It’s for the children, of course.
Get ready to ditch your shotshells and your hunting ammunition.
Lead shot is already banned for shooting migratory game birds, ducks and geese, for example. Possession of lead shot has been banned since 1999 while hunting migratory birds.
Will Environment Canada ban all lead ammunition?
Health Canada has decided that lead is a dangerous neurotoxin. No safe blood lead level in children has been identified. This means that consuming game shot with lead bullets is too dangerous to accept. Health Canada fears that some children could eat game meat tainted with lead.
Rumours are rampant that Environment Canada will recommend banning the use of lead shot everywhere – including trap ranges – as well as lead-core ammunition.
Before recommending such a ban, Environment Canada is surveying gun clubs to determine the size of the lead burden. This survey is a preliminary step. The Trudeau Liberals haven’t yet decided they will ban lead ammunition, so there is still time to protest.
The fly in the ointment is that the scientific backing for banning lead ammunition is missing.
Where’s the scientific support?
Respected scientists in Norway, Australia, and the UK, are skeptical that low levels of exposure must be considered dangerous, pointing out that the research remains unclear whether blood lead levels under 10 micrograms per deciliter have any meaningful health effects.
The skeptics rephrase this assessment much less melodramatically: available studies do not provide sufficient evidence to draw confident conclusions about the human health effects of low levels of exposure to lead or low blood lead levels.
Same factual content; just different emphasis.
Which would you prefer? Individual prudence or heavy-handed government bans?
Instead of banning lead ammunition, it would show more respect for individual rights (and might even be better for the health of anyone who consumes much game meat) to recommend improved training in meat handling.
It is telling that none of the assessments of the potential health risks associated with lead exposure from game meat included an evaluation of the benefits and nutritional value of eating game meat.
Remember, licencing and long-gun registration were originally dreamed up by federal government bureaucrats before Alan Rock got Bill C-68 passed in 1995 which now is the current gun legislation.
Don’t be surprised if the Trudeau Liberals listen to the bureaucrats who want to ban lead ammunition.
By claiming to follow the bureaucrats, the politicians will claim they are just following “science,” and we will be forced to comply. In reality, this is just another government power grab based on pseudo-science.
Despite the inconclusiveness of the case against lead ammunition, it remains prudent to reduce risks by adhering to proper butchering and meat-handling techniques. Shooters should know the risks involved in casting bullets or hand-loading ammunition and take appropriate precautions.
Take responsibility for your actions.
Don’t let government frighten you into accepting a ban on lead ammunition “for your own good.”
Well that pretty much eliminates everything I take to the range. Does this include pellets for air riffles too?
The liberals will not ban firearms, they will regulate them out of existence.
The cost will be so high that the average person could not afford the ownership and the regulations will choke you .
I don’t think this will be possible. The J. Chretien regime tried to pressure the Mike Harris government to ban the use of lead for non migratory birds in ontario but couldn’t as non migratory birds are under provinicial jurisdication not federal.
The Chrétien government backed down because there was a huge protest that motivated Mike Harris to oppose banning lead. We need to protest if we want to stop J Trudeau from imposing more gun or bullet controls.
I’m sad to think that all the politicians (of any stripe ) will cave in to the pressure group that can make the most noise.We have to be that noise.They will only listen to people who can command the most votes…
You’re right : we have to be the one to make the most noise. Thanks for being active!
Like it or not, that’s democracy. We do not want to live in a tyranny, however benevolent. Be sure to write your MP and Mr Trudeau to point out how there is no scientific support for banning lead-core bullets.
The same trudeau government that funds terrorists/terrorism and leaves our borders wide open is going to implement this? Here is a suggestion. Don’t follow it. The liberal party of canada is now a criminal organization and any law or prohibition that it brings into being must be challenged as illegitimate.
lets ban the lieberal/dipper parties in the next election. The lieberals can’t ban lead in ammunition for non-migratory game birds. That is provincial jurisdication. If Chretien could have done it he would have done it at the same time he banned the use of lead shot on migratory game birds He tried to pressure Mike Harris into banning the use of lead shot for non migratory game birds but Mike Harris ignored him.
Unfortunately it is becoming very evident that a wolf in sheep’s clothing can and will do what ever it wants. The wolf likes to show its head from time to time to remind the sheep who is in charge. Please remember if its not in the interest of public safety its for the children.
Remember how the banning of lead shot came about by a single ”flawed” study on ducks and geese ALREADY KILLED by hunters……no live birds were ever examined….
the American agency jumped all over the ”great” study and passed the ban in short order….look what California has done…… black powder shooters are very upset.as they can only shoot pure lead out of their flint and caplocks.
They are out to take our firearms….my granddad told me so,over 60 years ago !!!!
Speaking with organized clubs to gauge what kind of use lead is getting in Canadian firearms is ridiculous. Far more recreational shooters are not in clubs, but rather, are in rural gravel pits etc., firing off rounds.
My name is Andrew Drouin. I’m a Partnership Agreement holder with Recreation Sites and Trails BC (a Div. of the Ministry of Forests).
We have a large gravel pit adjacent to a major ‘country road’ in the alpine. Seven days a week, a large and varied collection of individuals gather on this site in order to shoot, televisions, gas canisters, computer screens, and ‘whatever’ that they happen to drag up that way.
Their backstop is a very large pile of sand, which is used all winter by the local road maintenance company to sand the roads.
So… what happens is that countless thousands of rounds of lead shot ends up deep in this pile of sane… which is then scooped up by loaders, placed in dump trucks, and in turn, loaded into plow-trucks – where the lead is spread all over hell’s half acre.
And this sucks.
So; what say ye’? I know of at least three areas in this valley with the same situation happening. That lead ends up in the ditches / water / soil.
https://undark.org/article/lead-ammunition-bullets-hunting-copper
Andrew
Dear Andrew,
The situation you describe, with people shooting into sand piles used on local roads, does not look good.
What would you recommend doing? Is there a way to monitor the sand piles? To clean it up before using it on roads? Perhaps a local club would take on the responsibility if local road maintenance company is not able to do so? Perhaps it would be possible to create a replacement firing range someplace else that would not be so environmentally detrimental? These are just suggestions, I’m sure, being local, you might have better ideas than I do.
Gary
Trudeau doesn’t have the authority to ban lead. That is a provincial jurisdiction. Jean Chretien banned the use of lead for hunting migratory game birds but couldn’t for non migratory game birds. He tried to coerce Mike Harris but Mike didn’t listen.
Just out of curiosity dose this lead ban cover lead in water pipes, fishing gear and anything that could have lead contained within it? If so I know a lot of government buildings that meet those criteria. Having served in DND I would be happy to point out the problematic locations. May want to remove asbestos and black mold as well.
I guess we will have to shoot steel core. One of the above comments referred to lead from gravel pits ending up in ditches after sand was used on roads for winter maintenance. I wonder how much of the lead detected was from historic use of leaded gasoline. I have shot in gravel pits and it is disappointing to see all the garbage left behind. I pick up as many casings as I fired and then a few more and pick up my targets.
stop crying we have already remove lead from gasoline, paint, etc because all de researchs point at the fact that it is dangerous for us and wildlife so why not change for better solution (non-lead bullet)!
There is no convincing research showing lead bullets pose a threat to human health. None. Concerns, certainly. Game harvested with lead bullets should be cleaned thoroughly.
I have tested 2 different calibers of 2 different companies of lead free ammo (223 & 308). I am not going into the science as you can do what a lot of people do not do before making statements and research for yourself. Lead free ammunition fires like leaded ammo. It is cleaner down the barrel (less cleaning after a few boxes for sure). Reloadable case is still viable as they hold shape well. Problem is the bullet is not tipped with anything for hunting and I have seen what is left of the bullet when it hits something hard. The bullet literally disintegrates into small pieces. At longer range (100-200M) IT IS NOT ACCURATE. So a light bullet that is not that accurate and disintegrates on hard impact, not a good hunting scenario.
Why are you all so intent on shooting things anyway? It doesn’t make you seem tough or independent. Please find another way to raise your self esteem that isn’t cruel and selfish. Smart, kind people abhor guns and hunting. People have a destructive impact on the natural world in so many ways, why do you want to keep lead ammunition on the list? Wildlife is suffering everywhere. Stop being part of the problem.
Thank you for your comments. With respect, I urge you to dig into the link between hunting and wildlife conservation. There is much more to learn. Did you know that many families in North America rely upon hunting for their food? Native and non-native alike. Wild animals do not believe in birth control, so in order to maintain the magnificent bounty of nature that we have, we need a cost-effective way to keep wildlife populations in check. Thanks to hunters, we now have more moose, deer, bear, wild sheep and goats than we had in 1900 — despite the obvious increase in population. Are you familiar with the government requirements for hunters in North America? It’s quite rigourous. Life, for all of us, is a voyage of discovery.