California already bans the use of traditional ammunition in the protected ranges of the California Condor, based on specious “research” that blames traditional ammo for cases of condors getting lead poisoning. Despite the current ban, incidences of lead poisoning in condors are not on the decline, which has prompted legislators to propose a new bill that would ban all traditional sporting ammo in California.
Bans on traditional ammunition are a popular method of attacking our gun rights from the side – because it’s not a head on attack like banning modern sporting rifles, it’s easy for traditional ammo bans to fly under the radar. California is attempting to be the first state to ban traditional ammo entirely, which obviously would be quite detrimental to the future of California’s already embattled gun culture.
Of course, as a former Californian, there’s another issue here that I’d like to speak out about, and that’s the California Condor. If you believe the PR hype about them, the California Condor is a majestic bird that rivals the bald eagle in grace and beauty. I have a surprise for you: it’s not.
In fact, it’s a really big, really ugly vulture. I cannot understand the amount of energy put into preserving the life of a bird that’s not very adaptable. Seriously, I don’t get it, and I never have. Unfortunately, the plight of the condor is central to the issue of the traditional ammunition ban in California, because that bird is being used as the justification to ban lead-based ammo in an entire state. Think about that for a minute, the lives of 25 vultures are more important than an entire state population’s access to their 2nd Amendment rights. Because let’s be honest for a moment, having all the guns in the world doesn’t do us any good if we can’t access ammunition for those guns.
Here’s an interesting fact about the condors- the majority of the population actually lives in the Grand Canyon area. They are making a great comeback, but still endangered. They are awesome to see in person, good luck seeing them in Cali, though.
They should also ban electric power lines, wind turbines, and allow open season on Golden Eagles, as those have been shown to be significant causes of condor deaths in current populations.
The anti-gun people will stop at NOTHING to get non lead based ammo. One guy a few years ago, faked a lead scare with a falcon that HE put lead shot into the bird. The outcome? The State took all the venison that was donated to free kitchens away and destroyed the meat. Later when the State tested the. residents they found that there were higher levels of lead. But the higher levels were found in the residents that did not hunt. The residents that hunted and consumed the meat had LOWER levels of lead.
So the “no lead ammo” nuts had caused thousands of pounds of GOOD FRESH PROTENE thrown away of a fake scare….do you really think they are above lying??
We already shut off water to our farmers to save some stupid minnow fish.
Hmm, Government trying to solve world problems? Reminds me of recent news about how Oregon Politicians may have a Gov’t agency assigned with the task of killing owls that live in the forest, because they are encroaching on the food souce of the Spotted Owl. And as Pacific NW residents know, this Spotted Owl was one of the Environmentalists tools used to destroy the logging industry. It would be comical if it was merely a plot on a sitcom, but unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Since there are only 25 left in the state, go ahead and kill them off. Then there won’t be a reason to ban the lead bullets. Shotgun shells, maybe, but not the bullets.
Oh by the way, how are the lead levels in other vultures, or does anyone care?