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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Lead is a potent neurotoxicant that is unsafe for | ||||||
3 | humans, wildlife, and the environment; lead ammunition | ||||||
4 | needlessly exposes humans and other animals to this | ||||||
5 | life-threatening poison; the Centers for Disease Control | ||||||
6 | states that there is no safe level of lead exposure; lead has | ||||||
7 | been removed from various paints, gasolines, pipes, and many | ||||||
8 | other items to protect human health and the environment; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Lead ammunition is a threat to wildlife; more than | ||||||
10 | 130 species, including humans, have been exposed to or killed | ||||||
11 | by ingesting lead shot, bullet fragments, or prey contaminated | ||||||
12 | with spent lead ammunition; animals can fall victim to spent | ||||||
13 | lead ammunition through two avenues; primary poisoning occurs | ||||||
14 | when an animal ingests spent ammunition directly from the | ||||||
15 | environment, usually when foraging for food on the ground; | ||||||
16 | secondary poisoning occurs when an animal consumes wounded or | ||||||
17 | dead prey or scavenges gutpiles contaminated with lead | ||||||
18 | ammunition left behind by hunters; and
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19 | WHEREAS, Lead ammunition is toxic; a single ingested | ||||||
20 | shotgun pellet or bullet fragment is sufficient to cause brain | ||||||
21 | damage in birds, resulting in inhibition of critical | ||||||
22 | neuromuscular, auditory, and visual responses; lead poisoning | ||||||
23 | can induce lethargy, blindness, paralysis of lungs and the |
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1 | intestinal tract, various organ failure, seizure, and death in | ||||||
2 | wild animals; and
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3 | WHEREAS, The effects of spent lead ammunition are evident | ||||||
4 | in dove hunting; since doves are small and have an erratic | ||||||
5 | flight path, it often takes an average of five to eight shots | ||||||
6 | to hit the animal; according to the United States Fish and | ||||||
7 | Wildlife Service, an estimated 15-20 million mourning doves are | ||||||
8 | harvested annually; if every hunter is shooting with lead, this | ||||||
9 | would equate to roughly 5.2-7 million pounds of lead dispersed | ||||||
10 | into the environment every year; and
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11 | WHEREAS, Lead ammunition is a threat to human health; lead | ||||||
12 | is a potent neurotoxin, for which no safe level of exposure has | ||||||
13 | been identified; individuals who consume meat from animals | ||||||
14 | killed with lead ammunition are at risk for lead exposure; | ||||||
15 | several studies using x-ray imaging have shown that lead | ||||||
16 | ammunition is highly fragmentable and nearly impossible to | ||||||
17 | completely remove from meat; and
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18 | WHEREAS, Effective alternatives to lead ammunition are | ||||||
19 | widely available and effective; for shot, the United States | ||||||
20 | Fish and Wildlife Service has approved a dozen nontoxic shot | ||||||
21 | types; steel, copper, and bismuth are among the most common | ||||||
22 | non-lead materials and are readily available at major | ||||||
23 | outfitters; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Ammunition regulations are effective; the | ||||||
2 | mandated use of non-toxic ammunition has proven to be an | ||||||
3 | extremely effective management approach to lead poisoning; in | ||||||
4 | 1991, United States Fish and Wildlife Service required the use | ||||||
5 | of non-lead shot for the hunting of waterfowl nationwide; | ||||||
6 | within just six years, researchers found significant | ||||||
7 | improvements in the blood and bone lead levels in a variety of | ||||||
8 | waterfowl species; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Restrictions on ammunition are commonplace; 34 | ||||||
10 | states have increased restrictions on lead ammunition beyond | ||||||
11 | the 1991 federal waterfowl regulation; as a result of its | ||||||
12 | success, the National Park Service announced in 2009 that they | ||||||
13 | would begin eliminating the use of lead ammunition; the United | ||||||
14 | States Army has invested resources and intelligence toward | ||||||
15 | creating and switching to non-toxic ammunition, citing | ||||||
16 | environmental and animal welfare concerns; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Scientists resoundingly agree that spent lead | ||||||
18 | ammunition poses a significant risk to human health and | ||||||
19 | wildlife; toxicologists, veterinarians, pathologists, | ||||||
20 | physicians, epidemiologists, biologists, and other experts | ||||||
21 | have advised against the use of lead in ammunition due to its | ||||||
22 | toxic effects; switching to non-lead ammunition is an easy way | ||||||
23 | to protect wildlife and people from the dangers of spent lead |
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1 | ammunition; therefore, be it
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2 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
3 | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
4 | we urge the General Assembly to support all efforts to restrict | ||||||
5 | the use of lead shotshells to take wildlife.
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