CSC leads fights against NPS lead ban
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus House members, as part of the bipartisan Second Amendment Task Force, recently sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar questioning the potential ban on the use and sale of lead ammunition, shot and sinkers in national parks.
The House Task Force letter encouraged Salazar to "work closely with groups that represent hunters and anglers to develop a transparent scientific process to examine the impact of lead hunting and fishing products," and detailed Congressional concern about the proposed ban and its potential impact on sportsmen and wildlife management.
CSC Co-Chair, Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.) as well as nine fellow CSC House members, signed the letter asking Secretary Salazar to work closely with sportsmen's groups and develop an open, inclusive, scientific-based process to further study the issue.
"The CSC and Second Amendment Task Force continue to work diligently in urging the administration to reconsider the NPA lead ban and to further study the issue using sound scientific analysis," CSF President Jeff Crane said.
As a bipartisan working group dedicated to defending the Second Amendment rights of American citizens, the House task force wrote that "the rationale for such a ban is not based on sound scientific analysis and it would greatly restrict the ability of sportsmen to engage in hunting and fishing activities in the national parks that permit those activities."
Thirteen members of the CSC from the U.S. Senate also wrote Secretary Salazar on Sept. 23, requesting that "NPS cease all actions to prohibit the use of these lead products on NPS lands by private citizens and NPS personnel."
The National Park Service continues to pursue a ban on traditional ammunition that it announced earlier in the year would and applies to park personnel involved with culling sick and wounded animals, and indicated it would consider widening the ban to all hunters.
