Pay attention to this one guys and gals

[blkTJ]

Right on Rick!!! :yay:

[Old Fart]

If anyone cares for more in depth research on the relationship between crime rates and gun ownership (even the POSSIBILITY of gun ownership reduces crime), check out Guns, Crime, and Freedom by Gary Kleck.

Even better - read "The Federalist Papers" by Alexander Hamilton.

[Shadly1]

OK, I'm coming around. I had to do a little reading. Check this out.
http://www.esc-shooting.org/info/2004/WFSA2004.pdf
It was created in 2004 so it's a little dated but not by much. I guess at the time, the only substitutes for lead had the potential to be LESS environmentally friendly than lead was. Does anybody know what is in the lead replacement? All I could find on it was that it's some sort of copper alloy. Now lead is harmful to animals and humans, but so is copper!

http://www.lenntech.com/heavy-metals.htm

Lead is still used because there is NO SUITABLE REPLACEMENT. From what I understand, none has been found yet. We're just using whatever we have to fill the vacuum created by this ban. Everywhere lead is currently used, it's used for a reason. It's used in electronics because solder made from any other material has a tendency to splinter. Microchips would not be possible without it. It's used as wheel weights because other materials wouldn't conform to the material of the wheel and when they did come loose, they would cause quite a bit of damage to anything around it. I have an entire room in my office lined with lead to keep radiation confined. No other material is allowed to be a radiation barrier by law! It's used in firearms because it's very soft and very heavy. It doesn't damage the barrels of guns. You can't just throw a harder metal into it without causing some damage.

I am not a hunter or a sport-shooter or anything like that. I have a .30-30 Winchester Model 1894 . It was handed down for 3 generations to me. It was actually used by a wild west cowboy! Neat, huh? I am NOT using anything in it that the firearm wasn't designed for. If lead becomes banned for this particular caliber, I will still use it...somehow. Purchasing a different firearm more suitable for whatever type of ammunition is on the market is not an option for me. I will teach my kids to shoot using this rifle as my Dad taught me and I will laugh as they fall on their butts from the recoil as I did.