Should hunters switch to 'green' bullets?

Nonno

Habari Na Mijeldi
Should hunters switch to 'green' bullets? - CNN.com

" (CNN) -- Three years ago, Phillip Loughlin made a choice he knew would brand him as an outsider with many of his fellow hunters:
Last year, California banned lead bullets in areas where the endangered California condor lives.

Non-lead bullets are gaining visibility, but hunting and gun groups oppose banning lead from ammo.

He decided to shoot "green" bullets.

"It made sense," Loughlin said of his switch to more environmentally friendly ammo, which doesn't contain lead. "I believe that we need to do a little bit to take care of the rest of the habitat and the environment -- not just what we want to shoot out of it."

Lead, a toxic metal that can lower the IQs of children, is the essential element in most ammunition on the market today.

But greener alternatives are gaining visibility -- and stirring controversy -- as some hunters, scientists, environmentalists and public health officials worry about lead ammunition's threat to the environment and public health.

Hunting groups oppose limits on lead ammunition, saying there's no risk and alternatives are too expensive.

The scope of the trend is difficult to measure. Americans spent an estimated $1.08 billion on ammunition in fiscal year 2008, according to tax reports from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. But the bureau does not track ammunition sales by type.
 

aps45819

24/7 Single Dad
"It made sense," Loughlin said of his switch to more environmentally friendly ammo, which doesn't contain lead. "I believe that we need to do a little bit to take care of the rest of the habitat and the environment -- not just what we want to shoot out of it."

Lead, a toxic metal that can lower the IQs of children, is the essential element in most ammunition on the market today.

I would support a bill that bans shooting children with lead bullets.
 

Wickedwrench

Stubborn and opinionated
Lead, a toxic metal that can lower the IQs of children, is the essential element in most ammunition on the market today.

Any parent that lets their kid chew on bullets instead of a teething ring is a moron. They should pass a law or something to stop that.















:killingme
 

dustin

UAIOE
Loughlin, who switched to green ammo and blogs on the issue, said that lead shouldn't be banned from hunting but that hunters and the public should be more aware of lead's potential to cause harm.

:yeahthat:
 

Vince

......
Should hunters switch to 'green' bullets? - CNN.com

" (CNN) -- Three years ago, Phillip Loughlin made a choice he knew would brand him as an outsider with many of his fellow hunters:
Last year, California banned lead bullets in areas where the endangered California condor lives.

Non-lead bullets are gaining visibility, but hunting and gun groups oppose banning lead from ammo.

He decided to shoot "green" bullets.

"It made sense," Loughlin said of his switch to more environmentally friendly ammo, which doesn't contain lead. "I believe that we need to do a little bit to take care of the rest of the habitat and the environment -- not just what we want to shoot out of it."

Lead, a toxic metal that can lower the IQs of children, is the essential element in most ammunition on the market today.

But greener alternatives are gaining visibility -- and stirring controversy -- as some hunters, scientists, environmentalists and public health officials worry about lead ammunition's threat to the environment and public health.

Hunting groups oppose limits on lead ammunition, saying there's no risk and alternatives are too expensive.

The scope of the trend is difficult to measure. Americans spent an estimated $1.08 billion on ammunition in fiscal year 2008, according to tax reports from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. But the bureau does not track ammunition sales by type.
Just when you think it can't get more stupid, we get this. :lol:
 
Just when you think it can't get more stupid, we get this. :lol:
Minnesota (I think it was) did a study about lead in harvested game. They showed that the lead contamination from bullets breaking up while traveling thru the body of the game animal was spread well beyond the immediate wound area. They changed the rules on the Hunters Feeding the Hungry (or whatever they call it there) program to where they only accepted archery harvested animals.

So long as the "green" projectile performs equal to the lead, I can support it.
 

Vince

......
Minnesota (I think it was) did a study about lead in harvested game. They showed that the lead contamination from bullets breaking up while traveling thru the body of the game animal was spread well beyond the immediate wound area. They changed the rules on the Hunters Feeding the Hungry (or whatever they call it there) program to where they only accepted archery harvested animals.

So long as the "green" projectile performs equal to the lead, I can support it.
Put alot of lead in pheasant, rabbit, squirrel and deer, and ate it. I'm still alive. :shrug:
 
depleted uranium?

Well, it's certainly denser than lead - but you would have the same kinds of concerns that you do with lead.

It does yield lower radioactivity exposure levels than concentrated naturally occurring Uranium does (it contains a lower percentage of U-235, that's why it's called depleted), but risks still exist. The risk from external exposure is relatively small, but there are real risks from internal exposure. (The gamma radiation it yields has relatively low energy levels, but it does yield alpha particles which can affect living tissue, although they act in very short distances and thus need to be internal to do much damage.)

If it gets into the environment, and is then ingested or inhaled, it can have adverse health effects. So, if you were to eat meat that you had killed with depleted uranium ammunition, it may be harmful. Also, some of it can aerosolize on contact with hard targets, and then be inhaled.

Are the risks huge? Probably not, but they probably aren't less than the risks from lead. You also have cost considerations and possible regulatory considerations - although I'm not sure what class of material it is considered, so I'm not sure who regulates it and to what degree. Furthermore, I suspect you would see the same resistance to DU being used in consumer ammunition, as you see with other ammunition that is effective at penetrating body armor - right or wrong.
 

itsbob

I bowl overhand
Other than that, this is STUPID..

I can somewhat understand skeet ranges.. where, over time, a lot of lead accumulates.

But I don't remember the last time I found a bullet while wandering in the woods..

Someone should do the math.. If I fire a bullet into the woods in Dameron, what's the current lead to background metals ratio?

Friggin Morons will fall for and believe anything as long as you put 'for the children' in there somewhere..
 

itsbob

I bowl overhand
They may never make guns illegal, but they will regulate them to the point you can't or won't want to own any..
 

Larry Gude

Strung Out
Friggin Morons will fall for and believe anything as long as you put 'for the children' in there somewhere..

You cold hearted bastard! This has NOTHING to do with children! Do you have ANY idea just how many condors are suffering from lead infused carrion?

Have you no respect for vultures, sir?


:lol:
 

itsbob

I bowl overhand
You cold hearted bastard! This has NOTHING to do with children! Do you have ANY idea just how many condors are suffering from lead infused carrion?

Have you no respect for vultures, sir?


:lol:

Maybe we are approaching this wrong.. we should stop fighting the Morons.. and just take all of their money.


We should develop bullets made out of compressed salt and pepper, maybe a lttle garlic.. sell them for say $10 - 15 a ROUND.. and tell them it's for the children..

They'll buy it, and feel good bout being stupid!!

Taking it a step further.. knives made out of stale cheese..

Rifle cleaning equipment with butter based oils..

man, we could be RICH.. and we can go out and shoot our guns with lead bullets all we want!
 
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