Many in the shooting community are becoming increasingly concerned by a stealthy campaign to seek the abolition of lead ammunition on the basis that it is damaging to human health and the environment. Some deny such a campaign even exists; the Countryside Alliance believes it does. We are also convinced that the case for a total ban on lead shot in the UK has not been made.
Lead shot is in the spotlight is because the last Labour minister for rural affairs Huw Irranca Davies ordered Defra and the Food Standards Agency to set up a Lead Ammunition Group (LAG) in response to concerns from the RSPB and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. Their inflammatory correspondence to previous government ministers can be seen on the website of the Lead Ammunition Group (see link below) along with the shooting sector’s response, the minutes from the first two LAG meetings and plenty of other information on this controversial subject which affects everyone who shoots.
The Countryside Alliance is a member of the LAG and fully intends to play the part of watchdog for the shooting sector. BASC cannot do this because its chief executive is the group’s independent chairman. As things stand, Defra has no current view on lead shot and the Food Standard Agency’s current advice is that game shot with lead is safe to eat. Also, there is little evidence that dry-land use of lead ammunition is an environmental problem in the UK. However, the group is tasked with producing a report for government next year with recommendations for further action.
Anti-lead campaigners are currently excited by a recent report from the European Food Safety Authority which recommends that no-one should eat more than ‘one game meal’ a week. The Countryside Alliance is currently investigating exactly how the quango came to this rather precise conclusion. Even the WWT/RSPB’s own research in this area produced findings nowhere near as prohibitive.
The Alliance has always said that if incontrovertible and peer-reviewed UK evidence of relevant environmental and health problems were to emerge, we would of course all act responsibly in seeking the adoption of high quality non-toxic humane and affordable alternatives. Until such time the status quo should prevail.
Visit www.leadammunitiongroup.co.uk for the latest information on this issue. | 
