The Doe Run Company, Lead Smelter in Herculaneum, Missouri to Close

NRA-ILA

Doe Run made significant efforts to reduce lead emissions from the smelter, but in 2008 the federal Environmental Protection Agency issued new National Ambient Air Quality Standards for lead that were 10 times tighter than the previous standard.  Given the new lead air quality standard, Doe Run made the decision to close the Herculaneum smelter.

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 ct of traditional ammunition.  Just this month, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that will ban lead ammunition for all hunting in California.  The Center for Biological Diversity has tried multiple times to get similar regulations at the federal level by trying, and repeatedly failing, to get the EPA to regulate conventional ammunition under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

At this time, it's unclear if Doe Run or another company will open a new lead smelter in the United States that can meet the more stringent lead air quality standards by using more modern smelting methods.   What is clear is that after the Herculaneum smelter closes its doors in December, entirely domestic manufacture of conventional ammunition, from raw ore to finished cartridge, will be impossible.

Gun-rights fanatics and Obama haters like Allen West see this as a conspiracy against gun owners. Being completely self-absorbed, they see the EPA decision only as it affects them. They think it really has nothing to do with air pollution or the dangers of lead in the environment and only about "back door gun control."  The fact that many industries use lead other than the ammo makers doesn't phase them. It's all about their rights, you see.

Lead-Free Ammo for Hunting

USA --(Ammoland.com)-Obviously, there is a lot of discussion right now about changes to our gun laws as a result of the Newtown, Connecticut tragedy.

This article is not about gun control or the Second Amendment, but rather about removing toxic materials from hunting ammunition and fishing tackle.

For the past decade there has been debate over regulation or restrictions on the use of lead ammunition for hunting activities that cause lead exposure and poisoning for birds and other wildlife. 

The effectiveness, cost and availability of copper and other non-lead hunting ammunition has dramatically improved in recent years. Increasing numbers of hunters are switching to non-lead rounds because they are better for hunting, better for wildlife, and safer for hunters and their families.

Almost three hundred groups from around the country have joined the Center for Biological Diversity’s call to finally phase lead out of lead hunting ammunition. For the sake of people, wildlife and a lead-free environment, it’s time to make this happen.

Let’s be clear about what this is, and isn’t, about. This has nothing to do with restricting hunting or the Second Amendment. Our organization has hunters and non-hunters as members. Many hunting groups are promoting non-lead ammunition. The legal effort to restrict lead in hunting ammunition and fishing equipment has everything to do with getting toxic lead out of our environment and nothing to do with restrictions on hunting and fishing. Nothing.

There are good reasons we took lead out of gasoline, plumbing, house paints and children’s toys! Lead is an extremely toxic material that is dangerous at almost any level to all life forms.

Fortunately, there are proven, effective alternatives to lead for nearly every caliber of ammunition used in hunting. A recent scientific article, Lead-Free Hunting Rifle Ammunition: Product Availability, Price, Effectiveness, and Role in Global Wildlife Conservation, found that:

• Lead-free bullets are made in 35 calibers and 51 rifle cartridge designations;
• 37 companies distribute lead-free bullets internationally;
• There is no major difference in the retail price of equivalent lead-free and lead-core ammunition for most popular calibers;
• Lead-free ammunition has set bench-mark standards for accuracy, lethality and safety.

(Vernon George Thomas, Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment, 4 January 2013).

Bad Ammo

California Gun Stores Prepare

The Sun of San Bernadino California ran an article about the difficulty gun stores will face when the new law goes into effect. Today it's fairly simple and straightforward, you go into the store, pick up a box of ammo that you need and pay for it at the register. In 2011, things will be very different.

"We'll have to rearrange the store," said Hector Garcia, owner of Cold War Shooters, because the new law will force gun and sporting goods stores to keep handgun ammo where customers can't reach it. "But that will be a minor inconvenience compared to the paperwork."

The most important piece of the new law, which has already drawn the ire of the National Rifle Association and some Republican lawmakers, is a requirement that anyone purchasing handgun ammunition provide his or her name, address, phone number and thumbprint. Gun stores will have to keep those records - which also include the type, brand and amount of ammunition sold to customers - and allow police to go through them.

In discussing this recently, I've been flipping back and forth. Commenters pointed out that the inconvenience to gun owners who require large volumes of ammunition, like sports shooters, and gun owners who train regularly, will be significant while the potential detriment to criminals will be minor.

Assemblyman Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, sponsored the bill, saying it gives law enforcement agencies a way to check if criminals are buying ammunition.

"You could walk out of San Quentin (state prison) ... and walk into a gun store and by any ammunition you'd like," de Leon said. "Theoretically, you're not supposed to buy it. But practically, they don't have to check."

Does that make sense? Wouldn't it be good to prevent convicted felons from buying ammo even if they account for only a small percentage of the overall sales?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Bullets in Demand

It's certainly not news that ammunition is in demand, but the boston.com site ran a story with some interesting facts and figures.

Stacks of ammo, once piled high at gun shops across America, have dwindled. Prices paid by consumers for much sought-after Winchester .380-caliber handgun bullets (a common name for cartridges) have doubled. At weekend gun shows, trailers loaded with boxes of ammunition are drained within hours.

Budget-pressed police departments, which can’t be caught short, have increased their orders just to be safe, and the US military, fighting two wars, has seen its need for bullets quadruple in recent years.

Industry officials say the appetite for ammo in the United States is unprecedented.

The major ammo suppliers are working around the clock, seven days a week in an attempt to keep up with demand. There will be about 2 billion more American-made bullets produced this year over last year’s 7.5 billion.

US military demand for small arms ammunition has almost quadrupled this decade, increasing from 462 million to 1.6 billion rounds. The order used to be filled exclusively by the military-owned Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, Mo. But as consumption grew, the military turned to private contractors to fill demand.

That would mean that out of the 9.5 billion bullets produced this year, the military will take a billion-and-a-half. I guess the police departments are good for a billion or so, which would leave 7 billion rounds of ammunition for the average joe.

And they say it's not enough.

What's your opinion? What's really going on here? Remember we're talking about "per year" with these incredible numbers. When next year rolls around there's another 7 billion bullets distributed among the gun owners, less the ones they used this year, of course. Do you think this means that each year the stockpiles of ammunition in private hands increase? Is that a good thing? What are the ramifications of it?

Please leave a comment.