Always on the cutting edge of societal evolution, a California Assembly Committee has passed a rule that would impose a statewide ban on lead bullets,which is certain to exert no negative impacts on the economy of the debt-ridden state. Since most all of the politicians there are Democratics, expect this feel-good bill to sail through.
Lawmakers in California are considering the first statewide ban against hunting with lead bullets, after health and environmental groups raised concerns over the effects of lead on both humans and animals.
Well, duh! That's kind of the point, isn't it? About 95% of ammunition uses lead in the bullets, so in essence, this is just another roundabout effort to outlaw guns in the state. And gun laws work so spectacularly well; as seen in Colorado:
I am an Executive Producer for OUTDOOR CHANNEL (OC) . I currently have four series in production, including GUN STORIES, the top show on OC, with several additional series in development. My series focus on guns, hunting, shooting and the outdoors.
The producer, Michael Bane, in a letter to Colorado state Senator King, mentions that as a result of the new Colorado legislation, his shows - which have been produced in Colorado - are moving out of state, to the tune of a loss in revenue to the state in excess of a million dollars. Further, he notes, another producer is moving his series to Arizona, costing the state another million dollars in revenue. Finally, sporting and hunting groups are pulling out of the state, which will cost Colorado about another million dollars annually - even as Colorado Department of Wildlife runs ads seeking to bring more out-of-state hunters in.
So in addition to losing a cool $3 million annually, Outdoor Channel and hunting groups are now discouraging people from going to Colorado for hunting and other shooting activities. Of course, that won't happen in California, because they're "green" and hip.
"We may see three to four golden eagles a year with lead poisoning. We see a fair number of turkey vultures with lead poisoning," veterinarian Vicki Joseph of the The Bird and Pet Clinic in Roseville, Calif., told ABC News 10. "Usually, it's by eating prey species that have lead shot in them."
Of course, wind turbines in the state kill many times more eagles and other birds through direct blade strikes each year, and thousands of beneficial bats are killed because their lungs explode when they fly into the sudden low-pressure zones created by the spinning blades. But that's okay; turbines are "green" and cool.
Never mind that the companies running the windmills consistently apply for exemptions to the Endangered Species Act provisions governing the taking of eagles and other avian species (and are routinely granted the exceptions); you've got to break a few eggs to Save The Planet™. Just ask any professional "environmentalist".