HJ - No one is disputing the effects of ingested shot on waterfowl or humans. However, the banning of lead shot from the wide open spaces of BLM land, or shooting ranges sounds like the gov't protecting us from ourselves - again. The antis love any restriction that concerns the use of firearms. Is there a health threat posed by lead shot deposited on ranges or public land? If there is reputable scientific evidence supporting this then I'd love to hear it. Are gamebirds showing signs of lead poisoning from ingesting shot into their craws, or is lead on the surface somehow leaching into the groudwater? I have no doubt the Humane Society/PETA et. al. are funding studies to support just such a ban. The DNR officer who was quoted in the above article stopped using lead by because he didn't want his kids eating shot by accident. That's fine, his choice, but I would submit to him that his children's health is endangered far more on the ride to school in the morning than from the potentiality of swallowing a shot or two found in a pheasant breast. Sounds like more unnecessary handwringing to me. Just my $.02.