The failure of the Lead Ammunition Group (LAG) to meet the timetable to produce a report on the risk to different types of wildlife arising from lead in spent shot, has earned it a sharp reminder from Defra that it needs to get on with the job. However a recent update from LAG did produce an interesting correction to earlier figures, in the shape of an estimate of the number of cartridges used per bird shot.
The Gun Trade Association’s John Batley stated that the ratio had been revised down to around 4:1. And the estimate he corrected? 13:1. It must have been as plain as a pikestaff to anyone remotely connected to shooting when the latter number first came up that it was wide of the mark. 13 cartridges for every bird shot! We must hope that such guesswork is not typical of what finally appears when the group does get around to publishing.