Effective July 1 the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) will ban hunting with lead ammunition on property it controls and on bighorn-sheep hunts across the state. As Field & Stream points out, CDFW made the announcement in late March via the release of its 2015 Big Game Digest, a periodical that surveys news and legislative matters pertinent for the state’s sportsmen.
The new bans are the beginning stages of an effort to phase out lead ammunition by July 1, 2019, as mandated by a state bill passed and signed into law in 2013. At that time the state will allow hunting only with non-lead ammunition, which, if demand increases, may cost between 280 and 380 percent more than conventional ammo.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation has followed the issue tirelessly and suspects the statewide ban will drive approximately 51,600 sportsmen to stop hunting given the inflated cost of ammunition. Likewise, NSSF notes that the effect of subsequently fewer hunters may jeopardize approximately 1,800 jobs, $68 million in salaries, $14 million in state taxes, and $5.8 million in federal taxes associated with the outdoor industry in California. —The Editors
For more read California’s 2015 Big Game Digest and the NSSF’s full report on the ban.
Cover image courtesy of Oliver Peng/Flickr