Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- Attacks on our right to keep and bear arms don’t just take the form of gun bans or universal background checks. If anything, anti-Second Amendment extremists have always been scheming to find ways to make it harder to exercise our rights, and some of them are quite diabolical in the way many Second Amendment supporters do not see them coming.
One such bill is HR 405, the LEAD Act, introduced by Ted Lieu, a congressman from California (no surprise, a Democrat). In this case LEAD stands for Lead Endangers Animals Daily, and it bans the use of traditional ammunition on lands that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has jurisdiction over. For a first offense, there is a $500 fine, with additional offenses leading to fines from $1,000 to $5,000.
When compared to the sentences that occur from violating 18 USC 924, these seem mild, and this bill seems like it isn’t a big deal at first glance. But it actually hits those who wish to exercise their Second Amendment rights hard in multiple ways. One of the worst is that Lieu’s proposed ban, based on an Obama Administration “midnight regulation” that President Trump overturned, hits their pocketbook.
Traditional ammo is relatively cheap, even in a time where a gun store can sell a shipment of 80,000 rounds in 30 minutes. For many who acquire firearms for hunting, personal protection, or just plain target shooting, it’s not just about buying the gun. They need to make sure it is sighted in properly, that they have an idea of what ammunition works best for them, and that they have sufficient proficiency with that firearm/ammo combination to safely use it. That takes a lot of rounds.
Now bad can the hit be? For example, a box of 25 non-toxic shotgun shells runs for over $40 at SportsmansGuide.com. Assuming you’d have enough proficiency and confidence in a shotgun/shell combo after firing 250 rounds, that’s $400 before one single “for real” use. By comparison, a box of 25 traditional shells runs for about $13 at that same site. Assuming the same 250 rounds for proficiency and confidence, that is a difference of $270 – enough to buy a FMK semiauto pistol from Sportsman’s Guide (following all state and federal laws, of course).
Of course, this is the real reason for the bill – to make exercising Second Amendment rights unaffordable. Second Amendment supporters should contact their Representatives and Senators and politely urge their opposition this legislation. Second Amendment supporters should also support the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action and Political Victory Fund to ensure that the current anti-Second Amendment regimes in the House, Senate, and White House are defeated at the ballot box as soon as possible.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
