The side effects of such widespread gun usage in the US are a bummer, but at least that proliferation protected your country from being overrun by a tyrannical facust government.
Littering đŻ
Submitted â¨â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago⊠by â¨fossilesque@mander.xyz⊠to â¨science_memes@mander.xyzâŠ
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Comments
Agent641@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
coaxil@lemmy.zip â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Itâs amazing how well their gun culture stopped the tyrannical dictatorship from teaching taking over!!!
minkymunkey_7_7@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
The gun culture is the fascists. So yeah it was a success.
hector@lemmy.today â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Good point, thank god, wait a minuteâŚ
woodenghost@hexbear.net â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Itâs the leading cause of death for all birds of prey in Europe too. Partly because hunters leave killed animals or their guts lying around, where the birds find them. Itâs not just vultures who eat already dead prey. But birds who only eat freshly killed prey (live falcons) are dying at the same rates. Why? Because their prey often has lead embedded in their bodies. They mistakenly eat it too, but also one in three living ducks and geese in Europe has been shot before and has lead permanently embedded inside their body.
Fluke@feddit.uk â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
âHuntersâ; that use a literal scattergun to murder animals because they lack the skill to succeed with anything less should be shamed as the pathetic little cowards they are.
If the hunting isnât about the murder, prove it, and use a more discriminating weapon to do the job and only harm what you intend to kill and eat.
graycloud@leminal.space â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Thatâs what confused me too, if you use lead ammunition, how are you going to eat what you kill? I live in an area where trapping is more common so forgive the inquiry, the use of lead bullets has always confused me.
mathemachristian@hexbear.net â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Kill hunters
Formfiller@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
You can use steel shot
SillyDude@lemmy.zip â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
The US banned lead birdshot in 1991. Are they eating squirrels?
NoDignity@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Eagles will eat just about anything they physically can so probably lots of squirrels, rabbits, smaller possums and raccoons but also eagles will sometimes eat carrion so I could certainly imagine they sometimes get this off something like a deer carcass.
Formfiller@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
People still use lead target shells all the time
kilgore_trout@feddit.it â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Ungulates and rodents, mostly.
rayyy@piefed.social â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Birdshot is only banned for migratory bird hunting. Many landowners shoot woodchucks with rifles because they dig holes that livestock step in and break their legs, also the holes cause problems with equipment - they most often use lead bullets and leave the carcasses for the wildlife to dispose of. Some have switched to green ammunition but few have. We need to raise awareness for the need to switch to non-toxic ammunition. Maybe a bill that subsidies green ammunition with a small tax on lead ammunition could help.
kilgore_trout@feddit.it â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
This is not exclusively an American problem. Eagles in the Italian alps are dying mostly of lead poisoning, too.
vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Gonna guess itâs due to left over fragments from WW1?
kilgore_trout@feddit.it â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
No, itâs due to these birds eating other human-hunted animals, either alive or their abandoned interiora.
hector@lemmy.today â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
In the US itâs from lead bullets, they scavenge a lot so they eat it from shot animals.
HiobsTriops@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Unfortunately, this most American thing is also strongly affecting white-tailed sea eagles and other raptors in Germany and neighboringcountries. Choose lead free ammo, folks. www.bund.net/themen/naturschutz/âŚ/bleimunition/
stoy@lemmy.zip â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
This is partly why I havenât got into air rifles, I have wanted to for a long time, but there is no good place to shoot it nearby.
Some may say that I should just go out in the woods and shoot there, but I donât want to spread lead in nature.
I know there are lead free pellets, but I have heard mixed opinions about them.
Why an air rifle specifically?
Because I can get a low power one (10J muzzle energy) without a license, and I canât be arsed to get a license for a proper firearm as it requires a fair commitment here.
SillyDude@lemmy.zip â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
If you just want to plink in your backyard then just get a BB gun that shoots steel BBs. And only use iron sights which will teach you instinctive aiming. Iâd say thatâs actually way more fun than a scoped air rifle. If youâre not going to be head shorting squirrels then you donât really need the accuracy of a dialed in air rifle. Looking in a scope at a piece of paper and shooting the same hole looses its appeal pretty quickly.
zxqwas@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
For Air rifles you can have a bullet catcher that is basically a funny shaped tin can you put your paper target in front of. It will collect the lead if you hit the target.
stoy@lemmy.zip â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Yeah, I just know I am bound to miss and donât want to contaminate anything.
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
You can get pellets and ball ammo in other materials. Might have to special order them, not sure how available they are over there, but they do make them. I have steel ammo for my air pistol, itâs my back yard pleasure shooting gun, so lead isnât acceptable to me.
stoy@lemmy.zip â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
I live in an apartment, so I need to find a good place to shoot before I get a rifle, Iâll also checkout what other kinds of pellets I can get.
Not_mikey@lemmy.dbzer0.com â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
I canât be asked to get a license for a proper firearm
My god, what tyranny you live under, please tell me what authoritarian country you live in so uncle sam can come free you.
stoy@lemmy.zip â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Hehe, Iâd be happy to tell you my general understanding of the laws, I am not a gun nut, and there are probably a few details I get wrong.
Anyway.
In Sweden you can only get a gun for two reasons, hunting or competition, getting a gun for self defense is illegal.
To get a gun for either reason, you need to pass tests and for competition licenses, display an active need for the gun in competitions.
Wikipedia has a better summary of the laws on this page:
Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.com â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Ban lead bullets then. Allows people to keep hunting while preventing more pollution in the wild.
Plenty of time after that to ban other things.
ayyy@sh.itjust.works â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
We did that in California. It worked.
musubibreakfast@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Thatâs a very un-American solution. I think it would be much better to sell fire arms to eagles so they become aware of the problem and they can effectively hunt fresh prey and thereby circumvent the entire issue.
NannerBanner@literature.cafe â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Theyâve been trying. I occasionally glance through the nraâs magazine because a family member is lust-addicted to the stories of people shooting others to defend themselves, and there have been little articles in their âdefending gun rightsâ section about lead bullet bans for at least a decade now. The nra and other gun lobbies have a lot of money to throw at the issue, and have actually overturned some of the bans, I believe.
porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Ban lead bullets then
Are you insane? These brave Eagles are dying to protect our freedom
woodenghost@hexbear.net â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
People have tried to ban it. But itâs an ever so slight inconvenience for hunters to switch to other ammunition.
RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Why is lead used at all? Why not steel?
hector@lemmy.today â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Lead is denser, it weighs more per volume, so it travels farther and faster when propelled by an explosion. Uranium works even better, which is why they use depleted uranium in some military applications, as itâs more dense than lead, quite a bit better. Gold or platinum would work better too as they are heavier.
Fun fact, in a half billion years or so, the element of uranium decays into lead.
Warl0k3@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
While thatâs a factor, itâs a very minor one - soft metals (lead and copper) are used as projectiles primarily because the bullet itself deforms to engage with the rifling when fired (softer materials also present far less wear on the rifling as a result - this is why shotguns, which are smoothbore and thus far less delicate, often use steel projectiles). The weight of the projectile is largely secondary to the mechanical properties of the material while itâs being fired.
jbellows@piefed.social â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
I read this twice. Iâm trying to comprehend. The problem, I think I comprehend absolutely perfectly but my soul doesnât want to. Am this close to screaming until hoarse and sweaty. Am at work so will see if I need to do this in the parking lot.
tetris11@feddit.uk â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
I dream sometimes of all the regressives in the world getting into a rocket ship and blasting off for some fantasy Planet B, leaving the progressives behind to clean up the mess.
And we do, and slowly the world heals.
Then the regressives realize that Planet B is too far away, and that Earth is actually faring pretty well now, and they try to come back.
When we donât let them set foot on Earth, they promise to nuke us from space, and then thereâs this standoff with them in orbit pointing a weapon at the only place that can support their progeny.
Damaskox@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
EhhâŚrarher choose no bullets at all? đ
ideonek@piefed.social â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Yes, sure, it was âletâs talk about how to optymize our âmmunitionâ kind of meme.
yellowfattybean@hexbear.net â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
This is the same reason why the California condor nearly went extinct. Afaik the education campaign worked and hunters generally made the swap to steel jacket (I assume) bullets
thlibos@thelemmy.club â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Pretty sure eagles are in the out group, so they deserve to die. /s
Maybe if Dear Orange Leader tells them to give a shit about eagles, they mightâŚ
selokichtli@lemmy.ml â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
And brain damage.
peteypete420@sh.itjust.works â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Now, does this affect how many freedom eagles equal a pound, or whatever it is they use in the metric system?
Solumbran@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
âChoose lead free ammunitionâ
No?
Just stop shooting guns and murdering things like a crazy ape?
Damarus@feddit.org â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
The American mind cannot comprehend this
arrow74@lemmy.zip â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
What are you even talking about? There a plenty of people that hunt even here in Germany
Pirat@lemmy.org â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Not sure if youâre American or not but hereâs a question for you. These bald eagles are allegedly dying from lead poisoning from eating creatures shot by lead bullets/pellets. This must mean they are scavenging. Yes, I know bald eagles do that a lot but they also kill their own prey. So why arenât vultures dying of this lead poisoning. Vultures only scavenge so it should happen much more often.
Hereâs another thought. 80% of eagles brought into a clinic may be dying of lead poisoning but that 80% is part of a small number overall. Notice they never say how many eagles are brought in.
Hereâs another thought for you: When someone says such and such is the fastest growing demographic for such and such a thing, it could just mean that there were very few such incidences. 2 such incidences occurred when there used to be just one. WOW! Hundred percent increase? Such incidences have DOUBLED!
Donât let Rita Skeeter twist your thoughts. Get the whole story.
ArgentRaven@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
The overwhelming majority of bullets are used against paper or steel targets. Most hunters take the entire carcass for butchering, so the eagles arenât eating lead from animals shot and left in the wilderness. And given the volume needed, I wouldnât be surprised that theyâre eating fragments fired at steel targets that they mistake for rocks to keep in their stomach to grind up food.
zxqwas@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Donât know what they do over there, but we usually get the lungs and guts out as soon as possible in order to keep the meat from spoiling. Long lived predators that likes to scavenge can develop lead poisoning from those remains if itâs their main source of food.
If confusing with rocks was the main source youâd expect it to be just as common in other birds.
Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
This is untrue, gastroliths are associated only with birds that eat plants. They grind up food, which isnât necessary for meat. Eagles eat bullets from animals that have either been shot and abandoned, lost, or had parts of them discarded as zqxwas pointed out.
Solumbran@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Thatâs why I also mentioned to stop shooting guns. If you are shooting in such an unsafe way that fragments fly around and get lost, then you shouldnât be allowed to shoot in the first place.
Cethin@lemmy.zip â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
OK, I think this is an incredibly stupid argument.
From the ethical perspective of anti-meat, hunting animals is so much better. They get to live natural lives, and they die in a similar manner to they do in nature (maybe a little faster, which is good).
From an environmental perspective, hunting keeps pray populations in naturally healthy levels, since most of their predators are driven out of populated areas, because people donât like to be attacked by wild animals. It also doesnât consume many resources, as theyâre just living their lives in nature.
I donât think thereâs any valid argument against hunting honestly, besides just being grossed out by it. Thatâs fine, and you can just not do it. Iâve never hunted in my life, and I suspect I never will. Itâs not really something I want to do. I canât construct a good argument against it though, and I suspect you canât either. If you can, give it a shot, and remember animals dying and being eaten is natural, and frequently necessary to maintain an equilibrium that was evolved to be maintained by external factors. Deer, for example, will die horrible deaths of starvation, and do damage to the environment, if they arenât hunted by humans.
Senal@programming.dev â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Crazy ape comment aside (iâd put it closer to apes with delusions of grandeur but thatâs just me), not shooting guns and allowing hunting arenât mutually exclusive.
Especially given all the hunting that happened pre-gun.
I donât know if itâs on purpose but your answer seems to be ignoring a lot of the realities of how the things you are proposing would work (or not work, as the case may be).
Aarkon@discuss.tchncs.de â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Just because something happens on its own in nature doesnât mean itâs a good thing per se - for instance, I prefer the warmth of my heated house over the ânaturalâ cold temperatures of the winter months. Thatâs the famous âappeal to natureâ fallacy right there.
Also, like others already pointed out, hunting deer is only necessary because we eradicated most of their natural predators. Making the case for hunting today in order to fix a problem hunting created in the past feels oddly circular to me.
Unquote0270@programming.dev â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
You must be exhausted after all those huge jumps in logic and reasoning.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
I have a half assed argument against hunting, and itâs mostly my being a picky ass. Most of the time, the game around here, you get better meat from the store. So people just let it sit in their freezer and it ends up going to waste. Which reminds me, I have some moose ass in my freezer I gotta eat.
FatVegan@leminal.space â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Letâs try the not poisonous bulltes first. Because something tells me that Americans canât even do that.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
We killed the predators on a lot of our continent. Deer hunting is ecologically necessary here. And thats before we get into the boar problem
Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.com â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Not if wolves were reintroduced to native levels.
IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.wtf â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Plenty of people hunt for food. Lead ammo should be avoided though.
Gullible@sh.itjust.works â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
I think you might have some ontologically incongruous standards. We are crazy apes. You can take the guns away, but the murder will persist for millennia, if not gene edited out. Banning the guns and lead bullets is more likely to work than expecting humanity to spontaneously diverge from its evolutionary roots of the bang bus murder ape
Solumbran@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
I donât know, humans are good at diverging from their instincts when it comes to letting sick people die, but when it comes to killing less, they cannot anymore?
I think that low-ass standards are what prevent humans from getting any better, if you start justifying mindless murders as âjust instinctâ then of course people will be fine with it. And funnily enough, thatâs one of the main arguments that hunters use, saying that theyâre just doing something ânaturalâ.
SinningStromgald@lemmy.world â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Adding that into my book of wonderful phrases.
athatet@lemmy.zip â¨2⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
People donât really change their actions very often. I mean, people are still posting on twitter, for example.