On June 29, 2010, a bill that would have banned hunters from using lead shot on state wildlife areas was killed in committee. Assembly Bill 2223 was defeated by a 4-3 vote in the Senate Natural Resources Committee. There are 667,000 acres in the Department of Fish and Game-managed network of wildlife areas. At most of the state’s wildlife areas, hunters are currently allowed to use lead shot to hunt small game like rabbit, quail, turkey, dove and pheasant.

The bill had passed the state Assembly the previous month on a party-line vote with Assembly Republicans like Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, voting against it and Democrats like Wesley Chesbro, D-Arcata, voting for it. It was then sent to the Senate, and was first heard in the Senate committee on June 22, 2010. It failed to get enough votes to get out of committee at that time, but was granted reconsideration by Chairwoman Fran Pavley (D-Santa Monica) and so came back before the committee on June 29.

NRA and CRPA opposed the bill in the Assembly, and presented evidence against the bill. NRA/CRPA lawyers also submitted a letter to the Committee Record expressing opposition to AB 2223. A number of other hunting and self-defense civil rights groups also opposed the bill.

Assemblyman Pedro Nava and other proponents of lead ammo bans used flawed logic and manipulated studies to advance their claims. Proponents claim that predatory animals consume lead pellets when eating downed game that has been shot but lost by hunters. Proponents also cited to a purported relationship between traditional lead ammunition and lead poisoning in California condors as justification to pass AB 2223.

This alleged relationship between lead ammo and condor poisoning was a driving factor in the passage of AB 821 in 2007, which banned the use of lead centerfire ammunition while hunting big game in the condor range.

But since at least 2002, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA) have raised legitimate and serious questions about the purported relationship between the use of traditional lead ammunition and lead poisoning in California condors.

Since the passage of AB 821, the NRA has engaged the expertise of the environmental and civil rights law firm of Michel & Associates, along with reputable scientists, experts, and a group of volunteers. NRA’s team began the long and arduous process of obtaining and analyzing tens of thousands of pages of public records concerning the condor, including raw data and internal documents not previously obtained or reviewed by independent analysts or the public at large.

The NRA, CRPA, and like-minded wildlife and natural resource conservation groups continue to review various regulatory threats to the hunting and shooting traditions. Where the science leads to a wise management conclusion, NRA supports wildlife managers in their efforts to conserve our natural and wildlife resources. But where the science is faulty, politically biased, distorted or unsupportable, the NRA continues to work tirelessly to expose the truth.