Time for another attempt to empty the ocean with a fork....yep, another "Danger!" "Warning!" and "Is This True???" story.

Truth: California has passed legislation banning traditional ammunition for hunting. Also true: the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DSTC) says it do the same thing for lead in all fishing tackle.

What California has NOT done is ban any particular caliber of ammunition.

Let's repeat this one more time for those of you who are preparing to forward me the link to the story that says we can all either quake in our collective boots or shake our fists and shout "not here" while we run out and start hoarding ammunition- again.

The story is a spoof - no matter how many copies you get from well-meaning friends. The story is from National Report- a "fake news site" (see accompanying image).

http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/image_archive/2204403.jpg> National Report is not a news site, despite the 3,231 copies of this story you'll probably get over the next decade. The "Ticker" at the top should be a contextual clue. Screen shot taken from NR website.

In case you simply refuse to accept the fact -or you've been sending National News reports to friends, here's a note from their archives from web- debunking site Hoax Slayer(www.hoax-slayer.com):

National Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental.

There was an interesting editorial page piece in yesterday's (3/20/15) real NYT that reports something the author apparently finds troubling: crime is at near-historic lows, but gun ownership is on the rise.

The opinion piece written by Charles M. Blow quotes last week's Pew Report that says "for the first time, more Americans say that protecting gun rights is more important than controlling gun ownership, 52 to 46 percent" .

Blow's piece is titled "Has the NRA Won?"

That's the rhetorical question Mr. Blow uses to get the attention of those who agree with his feeling that "reasonable restrictions" -his words - are vitally important.

But he admits that "One may begrudge and bemoan the fact, but it is hard to deny it: the N.R.A. appears to be winning this round."

But he doesn't see the Pew Report as proving a long-term "win"- only "winning this round."

Anti-gunners will never willingly accept the fact they don't know what's best for everyone -even if their experience doesn't go beyond a single borough of New York City. That's why the NRA keeps pounding that message to it's slowing, but still-growing membership. As tiring as that pounding can get, the fight never stops.

Over the weekend, Larry Keane at the NSSF blogged a piece on Maryland's ending their ballistics imaging program.

Keane writes that, after a decade of trying, both houses of the Maryland General Assembly finally ended the "dysfunctional experience with what had once been billed as a crime scene investigation tool, but was never used to solve a single crime."

Despite the vote, the program -and its costs- will be borne by taxpayers until October. And, as Keane points out, the battle against another not-ready-for-prime-time technology, microstamping, continues because "Legislators in too many states have a tendency to leap before taking a good look. The result in Maryland and New York has been the now-discarded ballistics imaging distraction that law enforcement did not need and did not want.

"In the end, no one was served. Taxpayers footed the bill for those wasted efforts. In Maryland's case the costs won't be recovered by sending uncounted barrels of brass casings for recycling.  Call it a lesson learned.  Be wary of any technology touted as the panacea for solving gun crimes."

Be alert for stories that "appear" to be true, especially before forwarding them to others. Spending a couple of minutes checking something out will be appreciated by your friends. Really.

If the validity of a story has you concerned, drop us an email at editor@theoutdoorwire.com. Finding the answers, especially to questionable stories, is another part of our job. And part of keeping our promise -we'll keep you posted.

--Jim Shepherd