A December 11 article in the Minnesota Star-Tribune took NRA to task, along with the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, for reporting we've done recently over lead in venison.

The article states, "The primary constituency of the NRA and the other groups¡ªhunters and shooters¡ªwould be better served by these organizations if accurate, complete information were offered to them on this important subject, so they could decide for themselves whether game meat killed with lead ammunition presents a threat."

The article does not specify on what point any of the groups has been inaccurate.

For the record, most of our recent reporting has focused on results of a study by the Centers for Disease Control, which tested blood lead levels in 738 residents of North Dakota. More than 80 percent of these citizens ate venison. Yet not one single individual tested had a blood level considered elevated. Two specific quotes from the study make this crystal clear: "None of the participants had PbB above the CDC recommended threshold of ¡Ý 10 micrograms per deciliter¡ªthe level at which CDC recommends case management." And: "¡­the geometric mean PbB among this study population (1.17 micrograms per deciliter) was lower than the overall population geometric mean PbB in the United States (1.60 micrograms per deciliter)."

Those are direct quotes; there is nothing inaccurate about them. The average person in the study--who ate venison--had lower lead levels than the average person in the overall population.

The study also cautioned pregnant women and children under six from ingesting any lead whatsoever, and we reported that, too.

Furthermore, we've stated that no one has ever gotten lead poisoning from eating venison taken with lead bullets. Minnesota wildlife research scientist Matthew Grund backed that up when he told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, "There are no documented cases of anyone getting ill from eating deer that's been killed with a lead bullet, despite the fact that there are millions of pounds of venison consumed all across the country." One probable reason for this is that, unlike soluble lead in paint, the raw lead used in ammunition is insoluble and most authorities believe it simply passes through the human digestive tract.

The Star-Tribune article further says of NRA and the other groups, "¡­maybe they're just saying what they are paid to say by the ammunition industry." It is perfectly true that the ammunition industry supports NRA with advertising and memberships, -- just as advertising and subscriptions support the newspaper business. But no one in the ammunition industry has ever once told me what to say. Of course I've only worked here 25 years, so maybe it's going to happen any day now.

Furthermore, the article quotes a pathology professor, Bruce Wainman, as saying, that "¡­lead shot will likely someday be outlawed for pheasant, grouse and other upland species, as it has been for waterfowl."

NRA members depend on us to make them aware of threats to their gun rights and to their hunting rights. Statements like Wainman's, and the political agendas of groups that are on record as opposing lead ammunition¡ªthe Peregrine Fund, the Wildlife Society and of course the Humane Society of the United States--leave no doubt that bans on lead ammunition are being considered in some circles. Since non-lead ammunition can cost double what lead ammo does, and since its availability is much more limited, the result could be that people will drop out of hunting. That will have a highly negative effect on game management and result in far less deer meat donated to Hunters for the Hungry programs. And it will mean revenue losses for state game and fish departments that are funded primarily by license sales. Virtually every game department in the country is trying hard to recruit more hunters.

And it's worth noting that despite the alleged health concerns over lead in venison, virtually all state game and fish departments publicly called for hunters to donate venison to food sharing programs this year.

The bottom line is that any health concerns over lead in venison should be based on science. We have reported the science accurately.

Since CDC is the leading public health authority in the country, and their study found no one with elevated blood lead levels, that ought to put the matter to rest. But if it doesn't, let's see the study that proves any American has developed lead poisoning from eating venison. Let's see some scientific agreement on how much lead it takes in your blood to constitute a problem. And let's see groups like the Humane Society of the United States prove that their position on lead ammunition isn't anything but an incremental step toward banning all hunting.

-- J.R. Robbins
Robbins is Managing Editor, NRAhuntersrights.org