House Republicans passed legislation giving hunters and fishing enthusiasts access to certain public lands and blocked the EPA from banning lead for use in ammunition.
A ban on lead ammunition would produce a real health hazard, making it much more difficult for people to use guns to defend themselves.
Human Events reported:
The House on Tuesday passed legislation giving hunters and fishing enthusiasts access to certain public lands to pursue their sport and also blocked the Environmental Protection Agency from banning lead for use in ammunition and fishing tackle.
The Sportsmen’s Heritage Act passed on a mostly party line vote of 274 yeas and 146 nays.
Republicans argued that the ability of sportsmen and women to fish and shoot on public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service is being threatened by the Obama administration and environmentalists through bureaucratic regulations.
Republicans also said that banning lead bullets and tackle would cause economic harm to the recreation industry and kill jobs.
“It would be a massive power grab by the EPA without a clear lack of legal authority, but has that ever stopped the EPA under this administration? Sadly, it hasn’t,” said Rep. Doc Hastings (R–Wash.) chairman of the House Resources Committee.
The bill recognizes hunting and fishing as historic and traditional recreational activities on public land and requires the federal bureaucracy to support those rights, said Rep. Rob Bishop (R–Utah), chairman of the Resources subcommittee on national parks, forests and public lands…
…Federal law already bans the EPA from regulating lead ammunition, however, more than 100 environmental groups petitioned the agency last month to ban it claiming the lead can poison those who eat wild game shot with the ammunition, or other animals that accidentally ingest the metal in dead carcasses.
“There is no scientific evidence for their position,” Hastings said. “So this (bill) makes it crystal clear Congress has primacy on this issue and it should be respected.”
