Legislation has been introduced to protect lead based ammo and fishing tackle. Please contact your representatives to ask them to cosponsor the following two bills: S.838 (Hunting, Fishing, and Recreational Shooting Act) and H.R.1558 (To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to clarify the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency with respect to certain sporting good articles and to exempt those articles from a definition under the Act). Or, at the very least, please support the passage of these two bills. Both bills are currently in committee, so now is the time to get our representatives to support them.
If our representatives hear from us in large numbers, they will respond. If they only receive a few emails, letters, or phone calls about an issue; they tend to file the communications as non-issues. There is strength in numbers; your communications do make a difference.
Excerpt from NRA ILA Alert (Link to full article:
http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=6672&issue):
“… Radical environmental groups have attempted to persuade the EPA to ban the use of traditional lead ammunition. Last year, the Centers for Biological Diversity led a coalition to petition the EPA to institute a ban. The EPA denied the petition in November of last year, but these groups have now turned to the courts to force the EPA to act.
S. 838/H.R. 1558 amends the Toxic Substance Control Act by adding language specifically listing ammunition components such as shot, bullets, primers and propellants to the items that are exempt from regulation under TSCA.
There is no sound scientific evidence that the use of lead bullets by hunters poses any measurable threat to the environment. However, a ban on traditional ammunition would have an adverse impact on hunters, conservation programs and would have a negative economic impact on many areas of the country that benefit from sportsmen’s dollars.
Passage of S. 838/H.R. 1558 will ensure that hunters and shooters will have the right to choose the best ammunition to use and will protect our hunting heritage from this baseless attack. …”
“… Please contact your Senators and Representative and thank them if they are already cosponsors of S. 838/H.R. 1558. If they are not yet cosponsors, respectfully urge them to become cosponsors of these important bills to protect our American hunting heritage….”Contact your U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell via email:
http://www.cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.cfmContact your U.S. Senator Patty Murray via email:
http://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactmeContact your U.S. Representative (look for your district):
http://www.house.gov/representatives/#state_waContact Elected Officials Web Site:
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtmlLinks to the text of each bill:
H.R.1558 PDF link
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr1558ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr1558ih.pdfS.838 PDF link
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112s838is/pdf/BILLS-112s838is.pdf
