The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has upheld the dismissal of the latest lawsuit brought by anti-sportsmen groups petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue regulations banning traditional ammunition with lead components and lead fishing sinkers.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry, and other pro-hunting groups joined the lawsuit on the side of the EPA to ensure that the interests of industry and hunters were properly represented. In 2013, the District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the EPA had properly dismissed the petition filed under the Toxic Substances Act, whereupon petitioners appealed.
EPA has consistently denied repeated attempts by anti-hunting groups led by the extremist Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) to have the agency ban traditional ammunition and lead fishing tackle and the courts dismissed similar earlier suits brought by CBD. The latest suit simply added more parties.
Traditional ammunition represents 95% of the US market and is the staple ammunition for target shooters, hunters and law enforcement.
“This latest iteration of a frivolous lawsuit is essentially the same as those dismissed earlier and equally without merit,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel.
In addition to NSSF, the National Rifle Association, Safari Club International and the Association of Battery Recyclers intervened in the case.
Organizations that joined CBD in its lawsuit were the Cascades Raptor Center of Oregon, the Loon Lake Loon Association of Washington, Preserve Our Wildlife of Florida, Tennessee Ornithological Society, Trumpeter Swan Society and Western Nebraska Resources Council.
