Oregon Courtesy Reminder: "Ammo Ban" hearing tomorrow at the state capitol

tiggers97 · Sep 15, 2014

Per the OFF update:
"n Sept. 16 in Hearing Room D at the State Capitol at 2PM, the House Interim Committee On Agriculture and Natural Resources will be holding a "informational meeting" on lead ammo."

If you can make it, see you there

http://www.oregonfirearms.org/lead-ammo-ban-hearing-scheduled

44mag2ndamend · Sep 15, 2014

Letters sent, come on folks!

drew · Sep 15, 2014

Can't be there but keep us posted.

U201491 · Sep 15, 2014

Lead Ammo Ban Hearing Scheduled
By KS on September 9, 2014 in OFF Alerts
09.09.14
We've been warning for some time that an attempt to ban lead ammo would be coming. Now the first hearing on the subject has been scheduled.
On Sept. 16 in Hearing Room D at the State Capitol at 2PM, the House Interim Committee On Agriculture and Natural Resources will be holding a "informational meeting" on lead ammo.
Governor Kitzhaber is reported to be behind a push to ban lead ammo. At this point there has been no proposed legislation made public so it's unclear if this will start as a ban on lead ammo for hunting, or a total ban on lead ammo. You can rest assured that if it starts with hunting it won't stop there. Make no mistake, this is a political effort, not an environmental one. The anti-gunners see this as one more way to attack the rights of gun owners.
Having failed in Oregon to ban firearms, this is yet another attack on possession of ammunition.
This hearing is open to the public, however only invited testimony will be taken. We still encourage you to attend.
The Chairman and Vice-Chair of the committee are both pro-gun and pro-hunting so the fact that this hearing is taking place at all before any bill has been made public may be an effort to get in front of the issue. However, it is still a dangerous policy. It's unlikely that anything said at this meeting will prevent a lead ammo bill from being drafted and introduced. So now, even before the elections, we need to start letting legislators know that we will oppose any effort to further curtail ammo supplies.
Please contact Chairman Brad Witt [email protected]
and Vice Chair Sal Esquivel [email protected]
Urge them to oppose any effort by the environmental extremists and the well funded anti-gun lobby to ban lead ammo.
You can find an excellent source of information and talking points here.
lead ammo

Morpheus · Sep 16, 2014

Any update on this? It was to be held today, right?

tiggers97 · Sep 17, 2014

Here's an update from OFF.

My own interpretation: there were a lot of people interested. I got there about 5-10 minutes before the start and the room was already full. A spill over area in the hallway was setup with a TV monitor for about 20-30 others, myself included (thanks to the gent who figured out how to turn up the volume). The first 30 minutes were spend talking about forestry management and logging.

While it was hard to tall which board member was talking and asking questions (I'm not familiar with them), it did sound like there is not much support for an outright lead ban, and some support for a voluntary compliance program if something did need to be done (think lawsuit).

Some points of information not mentioned in the OFF update:

This ban is being considered because an Indian tribe in Northern California is going to allow the release of some condors on their land.
Because the condor has a radius of about 125 miles, it is expected that the birds may eventually migrate north. Parts of southern Oregon also lay within that 125 mile radius from their release point.
It is not confirmed, but it is believed that the birds migrate based on weather (i.e. seasonal). They need thermals to fly, so in colder weather they may move out of areas where they cannot gain altitude.
For being scientists, the two gals in favor of an all-out ban used plenty of subjective adverbs to describe the data, and even weaseled in a few "for the children" pokes.

Most notable is that, even with lead bans in California and 90% voluntary compliance in Arizona, it did not work. In addition, there was mention of DDT (breaking down into DDE), even though it is banned, is still showing up in the condor egg shells (it causes them to be weak and thin) along coastal areas in California. In other words, lead hunting bullets don't seem to be the leading cause.

Pandaz3 · Sep 20, 2014

And here is what the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action sent out yesterday,

Oregon: UPDATE on Lead Ammo Survey Hearings

As anticipated earlier this <broken link removed> , the lead ammunition issue has arrived in Oregon. This week, the Oregon House Interim Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources met to discuss the ongoing Lead Ammunition Survey.
This survey, which your NRA previously reported on here, began this summer and consisted of a random sample of 4,200 hunters from each geographic region of Oregon. Survey results are SUPPOSED to be used for the dual purpose of informing discussions among agencies, groups and others about any potential restrictions in the use of lead ammunition and to gather information from the individuals who would be most impacted by any restrictions on lead ammunition -- hunters.
The Interim Committee hearing focused on a number of issues related to lead ammunition, and included testimony by individuals on both sides of the issue. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife indicated that a voluntary program should be sufficient to meet USFWS requirements should condors appear in Oregon. However, anti-lead activists presented information that their desire is to mimic the California complete ban on the use of lead ammunition for hunting. California has had a misguided ban on traditional ammunition used for hunting in the condor range since 2007 and condor blood-lead poisoning and mortality have actually increased despite a 99% compliance.
Your NRA is keeping a close eye on this issue and the impact it may have on sportsmen in Oregon. For more information on the all-out assault on traditional ammunition throughout the United States, please visit <broken link removed> .