GUN CONTROL GROUP MISSES MARK WITH ATTACK ON RANGES
May 11, 2001, USA: Calling shooting ranges unregulated "bad neighbors" and "dangerous toxic waste sites," a national gun control organization has fired a mis-aimed assault on the shooting range industry. The Violence Policy Center (VPC) and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) last week issued an error-filled report, "Poisonous Pastime: The Health Risks of Shooting Ranges and Lead to Children, Families and the Environment," that claims lead ammunition and ranges "threaten public health" and accuses the industry of "hiding the problem from the general public." The report urges local activists to challenge a range's operation using "all applicable laws and regulations" including zoning and noise ordinances. The report also advocates that no person under 18 be allowed on a range. "What this report totally ignores," according to Rick Patterson of NSSF's National Association of Shooting Ranges (NASR), "are the cooperative efforts on the part of the industry and state and federal agencies to successfully and responsibly manage the various aspects of the range environment. It ignores the science of lead mobility, ignores the existence of current governmental regulations and the industry's compliance, and ignores the safety record of target shooting facilities." Working with state and federal environmental agencies, the industry has developed a best management practices manual for ranges that is being used in 70 countries around the world and has been adopted by several branches of the U.S. armed forces. "The work we have accomplished in recent years completely refutes the allegations in this report," Patterson said. According to George Meyer of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region 2 office in New York, "lead ammunition is fine as long as you use it responsibly."
May 11, 2001, USA: Calling shooting ranges unregulated "bad neighbors" and "dangerous toxic waste sites," a national gun control organization has fired a mis-aimed assault on the shooting range industry. The Violence Policy Center (VPC) and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) last week issued an error-filled report, "Poisonous Pastime: The Health Risks of Shooting Ranges and Lead to Children, Families and the Environment," that claims lead ammunition and ranges "threaten public health" and accuses the industry of "hiding the problem from the general public." The report urges local activists to challenge a range's operation using "all applicable laws and regulations" including zoning and noise ordinances. The report also advocates that no person under 18 be allowed on a range. "What this report totally ignores," according to Rick Patterson of NSSF's National Association of Shooting Ranges (NASR), "are the cooperative efforts on the part of the industry and state and federal agencies to successfully and responsibly manage the various aspects of the range environment. It ignores the science of lead mobility, ignores the existence of current governmental regulations and the industry's compliance, and ignores the safety record of target shooting facilities." Working with state and federal environmental agencies, the industry has developed a best management practices manual for ranges that is being used in 70 countries around the world and has been adopted by several branches of the U.S. armed forces. "The work we have accomplished in recent years completely refutes the allegations in this report," Patterson said. According to George Meyer of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region 2 office in New York, "lead ammunition is fine as long as you use it responsibly."