The NRA's Hunt For Truth Campaign Gets Shot Down By Knowledge and Science

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Although I have my thoughts and opinions about guns, I don’t share them here on this blog. This is an environmental blog, and getting off topic into the gun debate would just, well, get me off topic. But guns are one thing and ammunition is another, and that is just what I want to talk about today.
            The National Rifle Association has a campaign called Hunt For Truth—www.huntfortruth.org—with the goal of keeping lead bullets and other ammunition that contains lead on the market.
            Because of the problems that lead based ammunition causes wildlife there are efforts to replace lead in ammunition with less toxic substances. The legislature of California, which tends to lead the nation when it comes to consumer protection, workplace safety, and environmental issues, is considering the Assembly Bill 711. Citing the California condor specifically in the legislation, the bill would require the replacement of lead in game ammunition.
            Through their Hunt For Truth campaign the NRA is attacking A.B. 711. Like the tobacco companies before them who spread doubt and obfuscation about cancer and other health risks associated with smoking, and like the fossil fuel companies and their “think tanks” that continue to attack the science and scientists who study global warming, the National Rifle Association is trying to attack the science that indicates that lead ammo poisons carnivores, birds of prey, and scavengers.
            Going back more than 3000 years ago, lead has been recognized as a toxic substance. Around the time of Socrates the Greeks knew of lead’s poisonous qualities, and there are historians who believe that the fall of the Roman Empire was due, at least in part, to the ubiquitous use of lead by the Romans, particularly those among the upper classes. Due to this long history and its widespread use in industry—remember, we used to put lead in paint and gasoline—lead is one of the most well studied poisonous substances. We know more about lead and what it can do to people’s hearts, kidneys, bones, intestines, and nervous systems than just about any other toxin.

            And as well, lead and its effects on wildlife is also well-studied.[i][ii][iii][iv][v][vi][vii][viii] It’s been known for some time that carnivores and scavengers ingest lead when they eat carrion that has been shot and killed with ammunition made from lead. Over time, as these birds, cats, and bears eat more and more lead tainted carrion the toxin builds up in their bodies and affects their health and ability to reproduce. The near extinction of the California condor is believed to be due in part to this bird suffering from lead toxicity.

            With Hunt For Truth the NRA uses all the rhetorical devices that have been used for decades by tobacco and fossil fuel industries. The conclusions of scientific research they call “opinions” and frame their position, that lead based ammunition is benign, and that of the scientific conclusions that lead poisons wildlife as a “debate.”

            Now I can understand that there are folks in the NRA who feel that lead makes better bullets. I won’t argue that point. Maybe a bullet made of lead flies truer and can kill its intended victim far better than a bullet made of copper or steel. But don’t try to make an ad campaign that runs counter to thousands of years of knowledge and some of the best recent scientific research. Lead poisoning condors is not an opinion. It’s what the science concludes.

UPDATE 8/9/13: Apparently, knowledge and science proved to be even more powerful than the NRA. According to Media Matters, the Hunt For Truth website has been pulled by the National Rifle Association. If you go to the url www.huntfortruth.org you get a message that the site is down for scheduled maintenance.  I guess Media Matters is right. I don't know that other sites go down for a long time for "scheduled maintenance."

UPDATE: 8/19/13 Apparently there was some wishful thinking over at Media Matters, who claimed that the NRA had pulled this Hunt For Truth campaign. The Hunt For Truth website is back up and seems not to have changed at all. They still want lead in their bullets. 

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[i] Juan Manuel Blanco, et al. "Assessment Of Lead Exposure In Spanish Imperial Eagle ( Aquila Adalberti) From Spent Ammunition In Central Spain." Ecotoxicology 20.4 (2011): 670-681. Environment Complete. Web. 6 Aug. 2013.

[ii] Donald R. Smith, et al. "Health Risks from Lead-Based Ammunition in the Environment." Environmental Health Perspectives June 2013: A178+. Environment Complete. Web. 6 Aug. 2013.

[iii] Kerry R. Foresman, et al. "Lead Exposure In Large Carnivores In The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem." Journal Of Wildlife Management 76.3 (2012): 575-582. Environment Complete. Web. 6 Aug. 2013.

[iv] A. Bignert, et al. "Ingestion Of Lead From Ammunition And Lead Concentrations In White-Tailed Sea Eagles (Haliaeetus Albicilla) In Sweden." Science Of The Total Environment 407.21 (2009): 5555-5563. Environment Complete. Web. 6 Aug. 2013.

[v] Colin Gillin, et al. "Acute Lead Toxicosis Via Ingestion Of Spent Ammunition In A Free-Ranging Cougar (Puma Concolor)." Journal Of Wildlife Diseases 48.1 (2012): 216-219. Environment Complete. Web. 6 Aug. 2013.

[vi] Cade, Tom J. "Exposure Of California Condors To Lead From Spent Ammunition." Journal Of Wildlife Management 71.7 (2007): 2125-2133. Environment Complete. Web. 6 Aug. 2013.

[vii] Fernando Hiraldo, et al. "Widening The Problem Of Lead Poisoning To A South-American Top Scavenger: Lead Concentrations In Feathers Of Wild Andean Condors." Biological Conservation 144.5 (2011): 1464-1471. Environment Complete. Web. 6 Aug. 2013.

[viii] José Antonio Donázar, et al. "Long-Term Effects Of Lead Poisoning On Bone Mineralization In Vultures Exposed To Ammunition Sources." Environmental Pollution 157.2 (2009): 569-574. Environment Complete. Web. 6 Aug. 2013.