Lead Poisoning at Gun Ranges

The Charlotte Observer reports

A confused 38-year-old father in Kentucky rarely crawled out of bed.

A conservation volunteer in Iowa lost feeling in his hands and feet.

A 5-year-old girl in suburban Seattle doubled over in pain and vomited.

The cause of their suffering: lead poisoning. The source: dirty gun ranges.

Indoor, outdoor, public and private, gun ranges dot the national landscape like bullet holes riddling a target, as the popularity of shooting has rocketed to new heights with an estimated 40 million recreational shooters annually.

But a hidden risk lies within almost all of America's estimated 10,000 gun ranges: firing lead-based ammunition spreads vapor and dust filled with lead, an insidious toxin.

Thousands of workers, shooters and their family members have been contaminated at shooting ranges due to poor ventilation and contact with lead-coated surfaces, a Seattle Times investigation has found.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/10/19/5248781/lead-exposure-at-gun-ranges-a.html#storylink=cpy

Open Letter to Richard Martinez

I just watched your interview on the Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell.

I'm sorry that it took the loss of your son to join the cause, but I am glad you are part of the movement since it sounds as if you are coming into it with your eyes open.  You know the other side will pull all sorts of bullshit--and then cry that they are victims when we fight back.

You hit the point head on when you said, that you had only lived with the problem for a few days, and you didn't give much thought to this issue prior to your son getting killed. You thought it wouldn't happen to him. And now you are living with the consequences of that complacency.

We need more people to see that point because until more people realise that the lax gun laws make people unsafe, people will be complacent about this issue.

Until it somehow effects them.

It's sad that it takes a personal loss for people to see this issue clearly.

It's not other people's children who are paying for this fake "right", it your own children.  It's not an issue of your kids or my kids--it's everybodies' kids that are at risk.   You  need to get that through your thick skulls.

So, Joe the Plumber--is your right worth YOUR kids dying?  We already know that you are putting them at risk.  And given what a fucking idiot you are--I'm sure it's a matter of time before something happens close to your home.

And like Richard, you shouldn't wait until it happens to you before you see reason--unless you are too stupid to see reason.

If More than Two-Thirds of Murders are Done with Guns, How Can Gun Control NOT be the Answer?

USA the craziest country in the world? You betcha! #gunsense wild Wild West! pic.twitter.com/crUbdi0czP

— Renata & Mike (@mgrossi1) May 28, 2014