The California Fish and Game Commission voted 3-1 on Friday to
adopt a legislative ban on lead bullets in the state’s endangered
condor range and even expanded the law’s requirements.
HOLLISTER
The California Fish and Game Commission voted 3-1 on Friday to adopt a legislative ban on lead bullets in the state’s endangered condor range and even expanded the law’s requirements.
In October, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law that prohibits the use of lead ammunition to hunt big game, such as deer and pigs, in the California condor range. The range includes parts of Southern California, the Central Coast and all of San Benito County.
The fish and game commission not only adopted the legislation, but expanded it to include non-game mammals and birds, and prohibits the use of lead .22-caliber and smaller rimfire cartridges, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
Conservationists have argued such a ban is vital to the survival of the California condor, a bird that nearly became extinct in the 1980s before federal biologists began a rehabilitation program.
A consortium of scientists signed a statement of agreement that lead bullets are the primary cause of high lead levels in condors.
Opponents argue that requiring non-lead ammunition infringes on the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
Only lead is used to make .22 caliber rimfire ammunition. Non-lead ammunition for .22-caliber centerfire ammunition does exist.
Pinnacles National Monuments has been home to a condor rehabilitation program since 2003.
