My post above was not to belittle Northerngos,, but instead,, try & offer an educated different viewpoint.
Lately,, the media is all about; "Follow the science" & expects us to believe whatever their media outlets say that is the "science" of stuff. (Not just the beer virus,, but global warming, climate change, etc. All of their narratives.)
But when this stuff came up way back when with the Ca. condors,, the real biologists & scientists that put forth hard evidence and facts,, they were shut down. And the media,, the anti-hunting groups, & the eco-freaks all had the loud platform to promote their agenda. They first claimed they were "just doing it in the areas where the endangered condors were. But,, like the camel with it's nose under the tent,, it soon expanded to the rest of the state.
Northerngos is correct in that we must be vigilant in stopping this type of attack upon us.
So,, I actually studied & gathered info based upon real science,, w/o any media hoopla,, so that as a Hunter Safety Instructor,, I could teach facts. And I use the percentages,, math & numbers, to put forth the information.
Kinda like; The percentage of people who get struck by lightening. Or maybe bitten by a shark. Or how many people join the BSA AND reach Eagle Scout. When put into percentages,, and the numbers are allowed in the conversation,, it opens a lot of eyes AND minds.
I've told the story before here.
A guy wanted to get the Town of Lake Lure to ban archery hunting in the city limits. His argument? He claimed to have been "shot in the left ear with an arrow by a hunter."
The news media posted his story (3) times that I saw. The media also posted a story of a guy who "found an arrow stuck in his fence" in another area,, at the same time. The media NEVER posted a differing narrative.
At the local Town meeting,, I was one of many who signed up to speak. In fact,, I got there very early to make sure I was the FIRST one to speak,, (after of course this guy was allowed to put forth his story.)
His narrative; "Three years ago, at about 9 pm, I was walking my dog on mine & my neighbors property when I was shot in the left ear by an arrow."
I had the facts; Annual number of licenses sold. Annual number of hunter safety students. Annual injuries. Annual deaths. I had records from 1960 to the (then) current year. I had totaled everything,, & averaged them out. The percentages of accidents was 0.00009 per licensed hunter. the annual number of deaths was 0.000001 per licensed hunter. Then I had the facts presented by the State that NOBODY had ever had an accident where they had been shot by an arrow. Not the Town of Lake Lure Police dept, the District #9 Wildlife, nor the entire State. Not a single report of anybody ever reporting being shot with an arrow.
Plus,, at 9 pm, it was totally dark,, nobody would be hunting. I asked; Did he have permission to be on his neighbor's property? And the claim of being within 50 ft of town property was false due to the river dividing him from town property was over 200 ft wide.
My closing statement was; "I've presented many facts,, backed up by the report copies I've given the the Council members. Now,, Mr. Owens claims to have been shot by an arrow. I'm not saying he is lying,, but I'd sure like to see some proof. He's not presented an accident report, a Police report, a Wildlife report, a doctors report,, or heck,, he didn't even bring an arrow. So, with full respect, I think the idea of trying to close hunting with archery equipment would not be in the best interests of the Town."
There weren't many who'd signed up to speak after I got done,, and ALL were in favor of my side of things. The Chief Deputy from the police dept was one who had planned to speak but didn't, and THANKED me profusely.
Mr. Owen stomped out of the room shortly after the Council & Mayor dropped the whole discussion.
My point is,, that when you present true, hard facts,, without any emotions involved,, where it can't be disputed,, you can often win arguments,, all the way to the Court system.
So this goes back to the facts. Bullets,, either lead core jacketed ones,, or even solid lead ones are not the reason animals get an elevated lead level. The REAL science proves that.