Proposed HSE lead ban

[Sim G]

I will continue to bang the drum about this proposed ban with the following…

Wildfowl estimated to have died due to ingesting lead shot, every year in the U.K., between 50,000 and100,000.

Wild birds killed by wind turbines every year in the U.K., 100,000.

Wild birds killed in the U.K., every year, by domestic cats…. 27 million!!!! And that’s out of a total of 260 million animals killed by cats!

The HSE need to shove REACH where it can’t be reached, and get over themselves a little bit!!!

[PeterN]

I am going to carry on shooting as long as I can. I may end up only shooting clay pigeons with steel shot. Anyway, I think the Russian 762x54R LPS ball is lead free as it has a mild steel core and not lead so that should still be OK to shoot if it is not all used up in Ukraine.
For those that have not done it, you have until Sunday to complete the HSE consultation on the lead ban proposals. You can give them your full and frank opinion on their proposals as I have done.
I think the figures given on the numbers of wildfowl estimated to have died due to ingesting lead shot is grossly exaggerated. Where are the bodies? An outbreak of bird flue and there are many dead birds to be found. Has anyone done any experiments to see how long lead shot remains in duck dabbling range before it sinks too deep? Sand or mud disturbed by the tide will cause the lead to sink to the lowest point as it is heavy in relation to sand grains or mud. I bet BASC have never done any research in to this.
Regards
Peter.

[Blackstuff]

I just saw a video about the lead ban claiming that any 'exemptions' only mean that the bans 'transition phase' is 5 years, rather than 18 months for non-'licensed' ranges/uses, so in other words it would happen regardless. Has anyone else heard that??

[Itskeith]

Wow – I was not aware of any of this.

This morning I was so excited to be:
- visiting .22LR Target shooting in a few weeks time when I move house and will be close to a Full-bore / Small-bore range.
- after that who knows, but the thought of exploring other aspects of Full-bore / TR / ISSF 300 / Benchrest / and who knows what - were all equally exciting…

Now I discover that: people have already stopped buying / put on hold future purchases / thinning out collections and expecting to be forced to give up shooting.

Never can I remember from going so high to so low in a day :-(

Questions:
How long before we expect this to come in?

“We were told a few years ago that Ely had something in the pipeline for .22LR however as far as I know that is still in the pipeline. Anyone”?

[Blackstuff]

I was talking to the former head of Eley on Saturday about this very subject. While there are alternatives none are accurate, some are corrosive (using ferrite powder as one of the main ingredients) and they were way, way, way more expensive, with a 50rd box of ammo being in the region of £40-50 (at the time of his leaving the company in 2020).

The timeline that i'm aware of is; end of consultation next week, decision before Christmas, 18 month transition period (for everyone/venue that isn't exempt) starting on the day of the decision, 5 year transition period for everyone else apart from the Police and Military.

[David TS]

I was at the range Monday morning, and asked everyone (there were only around 6 of us present) if they had filled in the HSE consultation (I did mine Sunday).

I got six blank looks.

Nobody had heard of it.

'When does it close' I was asked.

'Midnight last night' said I.

I can't believe they hadn't heard of it via the club/mates/social media etc.

I hope this wasn't typical, but I expect, as usual, the response from shooters to the consultation will have been minimal (just like the lever release/MARS/.50 cal consultation, and others before that). It will be interesting to see if the HSE publish statistics as to what responses they got from individuals. Minimal will be my guess.

Once their rifles become wall hangers perhaps they will wish they had done something!

[Rockhopper]

My old club had around 250 members, very few of them were on any kind of social media.

[millemigliadave]

I was talking to the former head of Eley on Saturday about this very subject. While there are alternatives none are accurate, some are corrosive (using ferrite powder as one of the main ingredients) and they were way, way, way more expensive, with a 50rd box of ammo being in the region of £40-50 (at the time of his leaving the company in 2020).

The timeline that i'm aware of is; end of consultation next week, decision before Christmas, 18 month transition period (for everyone/venue that isn't exempt) starting on the day of the decision, 5 year transition period for everyone else apart from the Police and Military.

Reading from the MP's letter further back up this thread it doesn't sound quite that quick: ''Following the closure of the public consultation on 6 November, the HSE will publish a response. HSE and the Environment Agency are also preparing draft opinions and engaging with independent experts on the REACH Independent Scientific Expert Pool (RISEP), who form a Challenge Panel providing knowledge, scrutiny and challenge during the opinion-forming stage. There will be further engagement and another public consultation which will inform final opinions, before being passed to the Appropriate Authorities (the Defra Secretary of State and the Scottish and Welsh Ministers) for consideration and decision making in 2023. The opinions will be published on HSE’s website.''

So, if the above is correct, the HSE's final recommendation goes to Parliament sometime in 2023. Not sure how long they will take over it before anything could become law? Also I read the exemption for ranges that can recover 90% etc. as a permanent exemption - however it remains to be seen. incidentally i am still amazed that the muzzle loaders association have not issued a statement - a lead ban would stop almost everything they do as pure lead is required, not aware of any alternative soft enough for ML.

Dave

[dromia]

I have emailed the bastards at BASC asking what will be happening over compensation for loss of business and redundant firearms.

Not that I expect anything meaningful from those Quisling twats.

[MistAgain]

Didnt Quisling get executed by a firing squad ?