Poisoned Wildlife and Tainted Meat: Why Hunters Are Moving Away From Lead Bullets
This article explains how hunters around the world are slowly transitioning from the traditional lead bullet to copper bullets due to evidence growing that it poisons the game meat many people consume. It discusses testimonies of hunters that have recently transitioned and people apart of wildlife hunting organizations. While many hunters are skeptical of this ‘myth’, others have gone ahead and started using purely copper bullets that work just as well to be safe. The restrictions of lead bullets has grown quite a bit in the USA, only 30 states fully regulate the use for hunting. Wildlife services are even offering free non-lead ammunitions to Native American tribes and other hunters. Hunters are hesitant to use these bullets for several reasons such as wasting current stock of ammunition, a health threat to animals, a step towards limiting gun rights, and simply the quality of it. Many fear that enforcing non-lead bullets will discourage people from hunting altogether, but some feel this change is necessary.
This article is interesting to me because it makes me wonder why people are so reluctant to change. Lead has previously been removed from many everyday materials such as gasoline and paint, why should ammunition be excluded? This transition is similar to when lead was completely removed from gasoline in 1995, the Clear Air act being enforced in 1990. A similar ban may take place in the near future as we see California already aiming to place a ban in present-times.
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