
Loaded with lead: How gun ranges poison workers and shooters (2014) - anigbrowl
http://projects.seattletimes.com/2014/loaded-with-lead/1/
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clarky07
This article is a bit misleading. Not all ranges are as badly handled as the
one they mention, and many many people just shoot outside.

In addition, the major illustration is pretty much false. Almost all bullets
are fully jacketed and not just partially as indicated. There isn't going to
be lead from the bullet anywhere except at the backstop at the end of the
range. There is a bit of lead in the primer (which weirdly the article fails
to mention) but it isn't nearly as much.

From the third article -"At a shooting club in Vancouver, Wash., 20 youngsters
tested positive for lead overexposure. ‘We would get lead on our hands and eat
finger food,’ one teenager recalls."

Education is key here. I'm not trying to minimize potential risks, but they
aren't nearly what this article is projecting. Yes, don't lick your fingers
after shooting. At every range I've ever been to, food and drink are
prohibited. Wash your hands people.

also from the third article - "While lead poisoning among casual shooters is
rare, the risk increases the more they shoot, particularly if it’s in poorly
ventilated and maintained ranges."

Happy to agree. only use well maintained and well ventilated ranges, or just
shoot outside like most people.

The risk is real, but it's really minimal with a little bit of common sense.
Focus on educating people of the actual risks rather than scare mongering like
this article.

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Moshe_Silnorin
Lead is just so awful - it lowers IQ of children by a very large amount, even
in low doses. Why not just ban the stuff in bullets? I don't see the problem
with outlawing it. These are clear, super negative externalities. Alternatives
exists. Enforcing proper handling of lead bullets seems much more difficult
than just banning them.

~~~
Pinckney
Lead-free ammo is much more expensive, and gun regulation is a politically
charged topic. Any attempt to ban lead ammunition will, rightly or wrongly, be
perceived as an attempt to discourage recreational shooting by making
ammunition less available. Much like California's handgun drop-safety
requirement is currently perceived as an attempt to discourage handgun
ownership, by making them less available, or Texas' recent abortion
regulations are perceived as an attempt to make abortions less available.
They're ostensibly regulations enacted for health and safety, but nobody
affected by them believes that story.

~~~
fallinghawks
One of the other arguments is that, because lead is denser, lead ammo flies
straighter for a longer distance than non lead alloys. I wish shooters took
that as a challenge rather than a limitation.

~~~
mgarfias
Name an inexpensive easy to acquire and work metal that would be a good
substitute? Should we use gold? How about depleted uranium? Tungsten maybe,
but it is spendy and shatters on impact.

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exabrial
This is most definitely piece of fearmongering journalism by a newspaper
notorious for promoting an anti civil liberty pro federal agenda... But, it
does raise a few good points. Range owners _should_ be aware of lead dangers
to employees and follow safety practices. I hope it does raise awareness, but
certainly there's no reason to go run for the hills.

What I find most interesting however, is this flies in the face of another
anti civil liberty agenda promoted by the BATF. They recently attempted to
_ban_ lead free and reduced lead ammunition (aka "green ammo", m885, or "green
tip") under the guise it was "armor piercing" (to soft body armor). ...which
is laughable because soft body armor can't even hold up to a knife attack.

Sadly, a lot of older indoor ranges are made with the wrong kinds of steel and
cannot be certified to have green ammo shot inside them without damage to the
structure.

~~~
rmk2
A knife and a bullet are very different beasts in terms of how they penetrate
tissue like Kevlar, so your comparison is pointless, and something that
resists a bullet need not be stab-proof, simply because they apply very
different kinds of pressures and kinetic forces.[1]

Also, I have never heard the term "anti civil liberty agenda" before,
especially not as an antonym of "pro federal agenda", so thank you for another
facet of what I presume to be American patriotic/conservative/right-wing
lingo.

[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletproof_vest#Stab_armor_an...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletproof_vest#Stab_armor_and_combination_stab-
ballistic_armor)

~~~
mgarfias
To be fair, rifle bullets whiz through soft (cop) body armor like through
cheese. It's a matter of velocity, pistols just don't have the oomph to
penetrate, and pretty much all rifles do. The "green tip" ammo mentioned
earlier? That's from a rifle cartridge that some states won't let you hunt
deer with because it is so under powered.

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tzs
Just to be clear, the danger is because people handle lead a lot at shooting
ranges, and they do violent things to lead that result in it being dispersed
as fine particulates into the air, right?

My 60/40 tin/lead mix solder sitting on my electronics workbench is safe
sitting there, correct? It's only when actually soldering with it, or touching
solder joints made with it, that I'm exposed? I avoid touching myself when
soldering, to confine exposure to my hands, and wash them when done (elemental
lead such as that in solder is not absorbed through the skin).

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hollerith
Two dozen US states, including California, ban lead bullets, and the US
military has announced plans to phase out lead bullets by 2018.

Source: [http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/12/21/end-line-for-lead-
bulle...](http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/12/21/end-line-for-lead-bullet-
regulations-bans-force-switch-to-green-ammo/)

~~~
joshuapants
This article is incorrect. Certain states have banned the use of lead bullets
in hunting certain animals (waterfowl for example can only be hunted with
steel shot), they may still be used at ranges.

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verytrivial
I don't have the ability to down vote, so I'll just say I don't car about gun
ranges or the people who go to them (as reported on HN or elsewhere).

