Thune, Rounds Introduce Bill to Stop Ban of Traditional Ammo and Tackle
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and 22 of their Senate colleagues introduced the Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act of 2023. This legislation would prohibit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from banning the use of traditional lead ammunition or tackle on public lands unless such action is supported by the best available science and state wildlife and fish agencies.
“Whether you’re from the state or visiting, it doesn’t take long to realize South Dakota has some of the best hunting and fishing in the nation,” said Rounds. “Hunters and anglers are conservationists by nature and want public areas to be productive for future generations. This legislation keeps the heavy-hand of government from interfering with our way of life in South Dakota.”
“Hunting and fishing play an integral role in the lives of many South Dakotans, and they also provide significant economic benefits at the state and local levels,” said Thune. “I’m proud to support this legislation to protect the hunting and fishing industries from costly federal regulations that would make these activities less accessible for Americans.”
“Sportsmen are the original conservationists and play an important role in wildlife management—the last thing we should do is limit their access to public lands by implementing a blanket-ban on traditional ammo and tackle, reduce revenue for important state wildlife and conservation programs in the process,” said Daines. “Outdoor recreation is part of our Montana way of life—I’ll keep fighting to protect our hunting and fishing legacy and ensuring these decisions are guided by science, not politics.”
Last year, the FWS entered into settlement negotiations with activist organizations over a lawsuit regarding the use of traditional ammunition and tackle on over three million acres of federal land. Rounds, Thune and Daines led a group of their colleagues in urging FWS Director Martha Williams not to cave in to activists’ calls to restrict the use of lead ammo and tackle on public lands.
Senators John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Deb Fischer (R-Neb), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) joined Rounds, Thune and Daines in introducing this legislation.
Click HERE for full bill text.
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“Whether you’re from the state or visiting, it doesn’t take long to realize South Dakota has some of the best hunting and fishing in the nation,” said Rounds. “Hunters and anglers are conservationists by nature and want public areas to be productive for future generations. This legislation keeps the heavy-hand of government from interfering with our way of life in South Dakota.”
As an avid shooter/hunter, banning lead will insure we continue to have the best hunting and fishing in the nation. The science is pretty clear that blasting lead all over is not a good thing. Lead gas and lead paint went the same route. Spending a little more on a box of shells isn’t going to matter when that will represent very little of the monetary barrier to get into hunting. What’s $10 when you are spending $1000’s to get into a sport?
We’ve got a ban on lead shot in wildlife production areas and public hunting lands (at least some) now. It’s a good idea. The feds ban lead shot on their goose hunting areas. Lead kills when ingested and stays in the environment forever. It does not dissolve. Big fish swallow lead shot and sinkers in lakes. We can move on.
Another hard hitting article. I will sleep better knowing the lead industry is being protected from the radical socialists
I’m a hunter and fisher, and have plenty of lead shot, but I think the “best available science” clearly shows lead has an impact on our environment. If there were not alternatives, I would have more sympathy, but I have tungsten and bismuth shotgun shells, and tungsten beads and weights. Yes, they cost more, but that just requires me to be a better shot and a better caster. I don’t see the need to force lead in these situations, and people can always continue to break the law like they are if they are this passionate about it. Letting the “State agency” decide on the science, just proves how corrupt a state agency can be, and highlights why we need a federal government.
Also, Rounds needs to hire some of Thune’s staffers, this clearly contradicts itself and makes it seem like South Dakotan’s are stupid.
“Hunters and anglers are conservationists by nature and want public areas to be productive for future generations. This legislation keeps the heavy-hand of government from interfering with our way of life in South Dakota.”
1. If we are conservationists by nature, why would we take the risk of polluting with lead when we’ve known since 250 B.C. that lead was connected with many health ailments.
2. If we want areas to be productive for future generations we must conserve it, see point #1.
3. Heavy hand of government, that same hand you have been pushing to ban books, ban certain types of healthcare, insert itself into sporting events, trying to bring into our personal bedrooms, the one that is killing people if they have other items you deem unfit, that heavy hand?
4. I’ve lived nearly my entire life in South Dakota, and while my father, his father, and my great grandpa all used lead, I think everyone I know (my father included) accepts lead isn’t great for us. I don’t, nor does my family, consider using lead as a SD “way of life”.
Where does this crap come from?
Ban books, you mean removing sexual explicit books from elementary school libraries?
Ban certain types of health care, you like abortion up to birth?
Insert it self in sports, like banning men from competing in women’s sports?
That kind of heavy hand?
A bait and switch with regard to election integrity, the well spring of human freedom in the last bastion; the USA.
We like hunting and fishing, but I’m not sure how well I would like these things inside a digital panopticon run by the morons on behalf of the self-serving selfish.