Toxic Shot Syndrome

Can't possibly imagine how this will turn out:

Environmental groups say 20 million birds die worldwide each year from eating bits of lead in animal carcasses, because many US hunters use lead ammunition which leaves 3,000 tons of toxic fragments in gut piles and unclaimed kills.

The dangers of lead have been well known for decades, and steps have been taken to prevent human consumption by removing it from paint, gasoline, pipes, children's jewelry and more.

A ban on hunters' use of lead shot for killing waterfowl was passed in the United States in the early 1990s because birds were being poisoned by ingesting the pieces that fell into waterways and ponds.

But the question of whether to do the same for hunters on land has thrust the eagle, the national symbol of America, into a fresh political battle over gun rights and environmental protection.

If history is any guide, I fully expect some Teabilly in Washington to attach a rider to the next transportation-funding bill to repeal the excise tax on ammunition and ban bag limits of game on federal lands. The bill will pass with minimal debate, the President will sign it and proclaim it a sterling example of legislators working across the aisle, and the Mighty Wurlitzer, cranked up to 11, will repeat the anthemic chorus from They're Coming to Take Our Guns Away. Have I succumbed to late-term pessimism here, or are the tea leaves just too easy to read these days?

---Vitelius