Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 3, the Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee is scheduled to hear SB 181, a bill that proposes a mandatory phase-out of lead-based ammunition for hunting all game species in Maryland by 2029.
Please use the Take Action button to email the committee and urge them to oppose SB 181. There is insufficient evidence that lead ammunition causes population declines for most species. What we do know is that the practical and economic consequences will harm the very people who fund Maryland’s conservation efforts: our hunters.
What is SB 181?
SB 181:
- Requires the use of “nonlead ammunition,” defined as rounds with less than 1% lead content or any ammunition federally approved as nontoxic.
- Staggers the compliance dates of game:
- July 1, 2027 on pen-raised birds on regulated shooting areas,
- July 1, 2028 on upland game birds, webless migratory birds, and wild turkeys, and
- July 1, 2029 on all other game, including deer (rifles, shotguns, and muzzleloaders).
Protecting Maryland’s Hunting Heritage
Hunters are the original conservationists. We do not need a mandate to tell us how to care for our cherished natural resources. Mandating the use of nonlead ammunition is not about conservation; it’s about creating barriers to eliminate hunting in the Old Line State.
Take Action Today
It is important that you share this critical action email with your family, friends, and fellow sportsmen. Urge them to use the Take Action button to email the committee and ask them to OPPOSE SB 181. There has never been a more crucial time in sportsmen’s history than now to be involved and engaged in protecting our way of life.
If we remain silent, others will shape the outcome. We cannot allow that to happen in Maryland. Urge your family and friends to join you and the Sportsmen’s Alliance in the fight against the rising tide of animal extremism and gun control activism. The legacy of hunting, fishing, and trapping depends on our actions today.
The Sportsmen’s Alliance guarantees hunting, fishing, and trapping for the American sportsman now and forever. We’re there when sportsmen need us most. We are the only organization specifically created to protect the individual hunter, angler, and trapper – no matter the threat. We will never compromise when it comes to defending our way of life in the courts, in the legislatures, in the public square, and at the ballot box. We make this promise to the American sportsman: we will never give up and never give in while proudly securing our future against those seeking to destroy our values, beliefs, and traditions. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
