Uh oh: Chronicle article about lead pollution from gun ranges

[chickenfried]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/29/MN4F12S0O2.DTL&tsp=1

[CCWFacts]

We should be doing something about this, like working on lead-free alternatives for use at these ranges. The world has moved on, and people are more concerned about toxic pollutants like lead. And no, the RKBA doesn't protected our right to shoot tons of lead all over the place. Ranges should not try to fight this, but need to get on board, and work with environmental regulators and ammo manufacturers to solve this problem.

[mecam]

Ban lead completely or close down the shooting ranges.

[megavolt121]

The Scotts Valley Sportsmans Club had a similar issue to this a few years back when the hippies were trying to shut down the range. I believe they found out that when lead comes in contact with calcium, the Calcium wraps itself around the lead creating a jacket and isolating it from the enviornment. They lined all rainwater runoffs with crushed coral and when water tests were ran, all runoff coming from the range was way below EPA standards.

[glockman19]

Let's see. Banning lead would immediately increase the cost of ammunition by 100-200%. Has anyone bought any lead free ammo lately? 20 rounds of Federal Barnes XXX .30-06 is $50 as compared to $20 for lead. Not a good idea.

Next let's look at cosing ranges? What...Closing ranges? I don't think so.

[yellowfin]

I suppose it doesn't bother them that the Chronicle itself is pollution. There's a reason they call the San Jose paper the Mercury as well.

[chris]

Ban lead completely or close down the shooting ranges.

yeah thats real smart cave into the anti gunners. no compromises on this. this is another incremental step. dont you see that!!!!!?

[lead chucker]

yeah thats real smart cave into the anti gunners. no compromises on this. this is another incremental step. dont you see that!!!!!?

Notice the smiley in mecams post? -

[Two Shots]

I was talking with a nieghbor a while back and he had said "If it was up to the Enviromentalists my dairy cows would be wearing fa*t filters to reduce emissions"
These people have too much time on there hands and are getting to much power.
How about wood bullets , No wait the tree huggers would complain.

[DrjonesUSA]

We should be doing something about this, like working on lead-free alternatives for use at these ranges. The world has moved on, and people are more concerned about toxic pollutants like lead. And no, the RKBA doesn't protected our right to shoot tons of lead all over the place. Ranges should not try to fight this, but need to get on board, and work with environmental regulators and ammo manufacturers to solve this problem.

What kind of drugs are you on today?

[bwiese]

It's one thing to use steel shot in watery/marshy areas.

It's a wholly different thing when it's jacketed ammo on sandy/scrub areas with no runoff, and which gets scraped up with a Bobcat to be recovered for scrap metal value.

The antis want to extend the former into the latter by way of more "Condor science".

[.454]

We used lead ammo in America for hunting and target shooting for the last 250+ years and nobody died from lead poisoning - unless it was standing at the business end of the gun.
Now a bunch of soy-latte sipping hippies want to convince everybody that another doomsday is coming if we don't use ammo so expensive, only the rich and the elites can afford.
Please excuse me if I say they can go f-word themselves.

[RomanDad]

I kinda worry about lead exposure.... I limit my shooting because of it.

[M. Sage]

Did you catch the big story about the "NRA spy", too? They really tried to paint NRA as evil incarnate. They also called Brady and other anti-gun organizations "gun safety" groups, and talked about how they're "tight-knit".

Yeah, they're tight-knit... because it's the same 30 or so people that comprise all of those groups!

I need to convince my co-worker to start leaving his copy of the Chronicle at home... it only makes me want to punch people when I read it.

[Librarian]

Related reading ...

Weathering of Lead Bullets and Their Environmental Effects at Outdoor Shooting Ranges (PDF)

Lead transformation and distribution in the soils of shooting ranges in Florida, USA (Just an abstract, but also says

Phosphate-induced Pb immobilization may be an effective alternative for reducing Pb mobility in the shooting range soils.

, similar to coral treatment noted above)

Another abstract Abstract, again: Changes in blood lead of a recreational shooter Lead Absorption in Indoor Firing Range Users (downloadable here)

Abstract: To determine if users of indoor firing ranges may be at risk from lead exposure, we studied a law enforcement trainee class during three months of firearms instruction. Blood lead levels were obtained before training and at four-week intervals during training. Air lead levels were measured three times during instruction. Blood lead levels rose from a pre-training mean of 0.31 ,umol/L to 2.47 ,umol/ L. Mean air lead levels were above 2,000 Lg/m3, more than 40 times the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's standard of 50 ,g/m3. Cumulative exposure to lead and the change in blood lead were positively correlated. Control measures need to be studied to determine their efficacy in decreasing or eliminating this health risk.
(Am J Public Health 1989; 79:1029-1032.)

Lead Mobility in Soil: A Refresher (PDF)

Lots of other things out there on lead and birds. Play in
http://scholar.google.com for relatively calm articles.