California first state to ban lead ammo for hunting
HUNTING -- California will become the first state to ban lead ammunition for all types of hunting, according to a bill signed into law signed today by Gov. Jerry Brown.
The ban is set to be fully phased in by July 1, 2019, in order to protect wildlife and humans from the dangers of consuming lead-shot meat.
Animal rights groups help spearhead the legislation in part to protect endangered California condors, which have been known to die from lead poisoning after consuming lead-bullet-tainted gut piles or meat from animals wounded by hunters.
- The issues have been the source of debate and research for years.
Brown said the bill protects hunters by allowing the ban to be lifted if the federal government ever prohibits non-lead ammo.
According to the Associated Press, opponents of AB711 argued that non-lead ammunition is more expensive and could be banned federally because it is technically considered to be armor-piercing.
Supporters of the new law say the use of lead bullets also endangers humans who eat game killed with the ammunition.
Democratic Assemblyman Anthony Rendon of Lakewood says the ban makes sense because lead has already been prohibited in paint, gasoline and toys.
In a mixed day for gun owners, Brown vetoed a bill that would have banned future sales of most semi-automatic rifles that accept detachable magazines, part of a firearms package approved by state lawmakers in response to mass shootings in other states.
The bill would have imposed the nation's toughest restrictions on gun ownership.
Brown also signed a measure from Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, which bans kits that allow people to turn regular ammunition magazines into high-capacity magazines.
He also signed two other pieces of legislation, which restrict the ability of mentally ill people to possess firearms.
- See the Los Angeles Times report on the signing.
- California already is making a list of ammunition companies with certified non-lead ammo.
- Shooting groups have criticized the legislation as an anti-huntiung measure.
