Full Text of HR0398 101st General Assembly
HR0398 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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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