2nd Amendment Alert: Dems Going After Ammo

The left-wing-bats are once again trying to make an end run around the Second Amendment. Environmental and political groups have been trying to force the Environmental Protection Agency to ban all ammunition containing lead in the United States for a while. Fortunately, Thursday a federal court said no. Again. The District of Columbia US District Court dismissed another lawsuit brought by socialist groups who are trying to force the EPA to overstep their role. In essence, if they can’t get rid of guns through outlawing the Second Amendment, they want to do it by claiming bullets are toxic and must be eliminated.

The judge, Emmet G. Sullivan dismissed the lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity and six other groups. He said the CBD’s appeal was merely an attempt to bring a 2010 suit the EPA had denied back to the table. The Institute for Legislative Action of the NRA reported, under the Toxic Substance Control Act,  the EPA says it does not have the authority to regulate ammunition, and they refuse to do so.

According to NRA-ILA, “When TSCA was passed in 1976, pro-gun legislators led by the late Sen. James McClure (R-Idaho) added language to the bill specifically exempting ammunition from EPA control.  They knew, even then, that radical anti-hunting groups could try to use the law to end hunting and recreational shooting by making ammo too expensive. Their foresight has now provided an invaluable protection against the effort to ban traditional lead ammunition.”

The National Shooting Sports Foundation reports that typical ammunition makes up 95 percent of the U.S. market and is the staple ammunition for target shooters, hunters and law enforcement, with more than 10 billion rounds sold annually.

The NSSF filed a motion to dismiss the CBD’s federal lawsuit prompted by EPA attorneys at the request of environmental and activist groups. On Thursday, the federal court agreed with NSSF that the EPA doesn’t have the legal authority to regulate traditional firearms ammunition under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

The Center for Biological Diversity claims, “Lead is an extremely toxic element that we’ve sensibly removed from water pipes, gasoline, paint and other sources dangerous to people. Yet toxic lead is still entering the food chain through widespread use of lead hunting ammunition and fishing tackle, poisoning wildlife and even threatening human health.”

Bill Snape, senior counsel with CBD says they, “will keep fighting to ensure that America’s wildlife are no longer needlessly killed by the millions by lead ammunition.”

Everyone is convinced the CBD and their partners will continue to attack our freedoms through the courts. “No doubt the CBD and the other groups will continue their efforts and perhaps hunt for judges who share their ideology,” said former police firearms trainer Marvin Wolinsky.

“Congress clearly gave the EPA authority to regulate the toxic lead in hunting ammunition, the same way we got lead out of gasoline, paint and kids’ toys. It was really disturbing today to see the country’s most important environmental agency on the same side as the NRA, opposing commonsense measures to protect people and wildlife from lead poisoning,” he said in a statement.

“We are gratified that the court has found this second frivolous lawsuit, which is essentially the same as the one dismissed last year, was equally without merit,” said Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry. “This was a waste of taxpayers’ dollars and EPA resources spent in having to defend a baseless lawsuit,” Keane added.

Whether the CBD genuinely cares about wildlife or they are just using this method of continually suing to get rid of ammunition and the Second Amendment, they are showing to what lengths they and others are willing to go to, to get their way to eliminate the ability of hunters and sportsmen in America. Consequently, it would prevent people from buying ammunition for any purpose, including their own protection.

According to Lawrence G. Keane, of the NSSF, “There is quite simply no sound science that shows the use of traditional ammunition has harmed wildlife populations or that it presents a health risk to humans who consume game taken with such ammunition.”

“Banning traditional ammunition would cost tens of thousands of jobs in America and destroy wildlife conservation that is funded in part by an 11 percent excise tax on the sale of ammunition. The protection and management of wildlife is properly handled by the professional biologists in the state fish and game agencies, as it has been for over a hundred years,” Keane argued.

Patriotic Americans must stay vigilant and watch for this type of attack on our Constitution and freedoms. Gun owners are one of the most hated groups in the United States. Although, what many people don’t realize is gun owners help give groups like the Center for Biological Diversity the right to hate people who do not agree with them.