MNN - Mother Nature Network

 

The gun lobby and pressure from Second Amendment enthusiasts may be to blame for the swift rejection of a petition involving lead-based ammunition.

 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has rejected a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, calling for certain bullets containing "dangerous" levels of lead to be banned. The agency claimed it didn’t have the authority to ban the bullets under the Toxic Substances Control Act. What is interesting, as Gun Rights Examiner Douglas Little points out, is how quickly the EPA made its decision.

 

Often these decisions are made after a 60-day public comment period, which wasn’t set to expire until Nov. 1. But, this decision came out almost immediately, which U.S. News and World Reports claims may have come from pressure from the National Rifle Association (NRA).

 

Still, the petition arguing that bullets may be toxic to your health may end up winning the most Ironic Act of Citizenship Award for 2010. (Unfortunately no such award exists … yet.)

 

The petition also included language calling for a ban on certain lead fishing hooks, which the EPA is still considering. Those wanting to express comments regarding the lead fishing hook portion of the petition can do so by going to the EPA’s website before Sept. 15.