A new study led by epidemiologists at Brown University found that among firearm owners, less safe storage was associated with higher blood lead levels in children.
I’m tired and missed the word “lead”, so I thought you were recommending free bullets and your comment about higher price made me wonder if Americans are getting paid to get bullets otherwise.
It’s fine. Most rounds are jacketed these days anyway, and copper fouling is pretty easy to clean away. Lead is just cheap and easy mass for the same space.
The bullets are lead-free, but usually the primers still contain lead which is a big, maybe the biggest, part of lead exposure with firearms, and it can be pretty hard to find ammo with lead-free primers, it also can get pricey, and by a lot of accounts they’re less reliable than lead-based primers, so that’s something to be taken into account.
Lead exposure from the ammo itself is usually pretty minimal, a lot of bullets are jacketed in copper so under normal handling you’re not really going to come in contact with much if any lead. There will probably be some fouling in the barrel, but that’s mostly contained in the barrel and unless you’re cleaning your gun on the same towel you use to wash your face thats pretty easily contained with some basic precautions like wearing gloves and such (not that all, honestly probably not most gun owners take those precautions seriously)
But when the primer detonates it’s putting out a lot of aerosolized lead compounds that kind of get all over the place because it’s basically getting sprayed around you- on your hands, on your clothes, the outside of your gun, your range bag, you’re inhaling it, etc.
So keeping your gun and shooting gear in a safe or something helps to keep that contained so it’s not getting transferred from your gun and range bag to wherever you set it down.
They researchers hypothesize that the children’s blood lead content is related to lead particles carried into the home on a recently fired gun and the parent’s clothing. That sounds weak as hell to me. It’s much more likely that the children and parents are both exposed when the gun is fired. More likely, in my opinion, the whole family was exposed by going to Nascar races, that until recently still used leaded gasoline, or some other environmental exposure. I would imagine that long term lead exposure could readily be associated with unsafe gun storage.
There’s our friends from Louisiana who remodeled old houses, including stripping old paint with a belt sander - their kids tested real high, for blood lead levels.
They were measuring the lead on the household floors and infant babies’ blood. I’m guessing the mothers/infants were not at the range.
The research team analyzed data from the longitudinal HOME Study, which was developed to assess the effects of environmental toxicant exposures on various health outcomes. The study, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, enrolled over 400 pregnant women from 2003 to 2006 and is following them and their babies over time.
In the HOME Study, blood lead levels were measured at ages 12, 24 and 36 months and floor dust lead levels from first measurement, at 12 months and at 24 months. Caregivers reported firearm ownership, number of firearms and storage practices during pregnancy.
The team’s analysis found that in homes where firearms were not stored or locked, there was 29% to 84% higher dust lead from first measurement through when the child was 24 months of age, and children had approximately 20% higher blood lead levels at ages 12 to 36 months.
Same research team already found that gun ownership correlates to higher household levels in 44 states.
Or, cognitive impairment from lead poisoning leads to unsafe gun storage.
They were measuring lead in infants under 36 months old.
Are you suggesting toddlers are losing their ability to safely store firearms or did you just not read the article?
Hes suggesting infants with elevated blood lead levels probably have parents with elevated levels.
I mean, have you ever seen a baby properly store a firearm? Exactly.
E: ban all babies! Ban all babies!
TBF I’ve never seen a baby improperly store a firearm either.
The last guy didn’t live to tell the tale.
Are babies blood-thirsty murders? More at 10.
It was a joke. But lead is in the environment. If toddlers are exposed to it, chances are the parents are too.
I think he is saying the parents have lead impaired thinking and thus are not good at storing the weapons?
That is 100% what he is saying. I was be facetious.
After they develop those neck muscles enough to hold their head steady they’ve got to start working on aim…
They make lead free bullets these days, I highly recommend those if you can afford the slightly higher price.
I’m tired and missed the word “lead”, so I thought you were recommending free bullets and your comment about higher price made me wonder if Americans are getting paid to get bullets otherwise.
What do the lead free bullets do to the bore? Lead is one of the more lubricious metals available.
It’s fine. Most rounds are jacketed these days anyway, and copper fouling is pretty easy to clean away. Lead is just cheap and easy mass for the same space.
Good question
I dunno about you but I’ve never thought about sticking bullets up my butt. Until now.
The bullets are lead-free, but usually the primers still contain lead which is a big, maybe the biggest, part of lead exposure with firearms, and it can be pretty hard to find ammo with lead-free primers, it also can get pricey, and by a lot of accounts they’re less reliable than lead-based primers, so that’s something to be taken into account.
Lead exposure from the ammo itself is usually pretty minimal, a lot of bullets are jacketed in copper so under normal handling you’re not really going to come in contact with much if any lead. There will probably be some fouling in the barrel, but that’s mostly contained in the barrel and unless you’re cleaning your gun on the same towel you use to wash your face thats pretty easily contained with some basic precautions like wearing gloves and such (not that all, honestly probably not most gun owners take those precautions seriously)
But when the primer detonates it’s putting out a lot of aerosolized lead compounds that kind of get all over the place because it’s basically getting sprayed around you- on your hands, on your clothes, the outside of your gun, your range bag, you’re inhaling it, etc.
So keeping your gun and shooting gear in a safe or something helps to keep that contained so it’s not getting transferred from your gun and range bag to wherever you set it down.
Yeah, my first thought was also that they had the causal relationship backwards.
No there are multiple parties at play. The infants being exposed to lead are not the ones failing to store the guns correctly.
They researchers hypothesize that the children’s blood lead content is related to lead particles carried into the home on a recently fired gun and the parent’s clothing. That sounds weak as hell to me. It’s much more likely that the children and parents are both exposed when the gun is fired. More likely, in my opinion, the whole family was exposed by going to Nascar races, that until recently still used leaded gasoline, or some other environmental exposure. I would imagine that long term lead exposure could readily be associated with unsafe gun storage.
There’s our friends from Louisiana who remodeled old houses, including stripping old paint with a belt sander - their kids tested real high, for blood lead levels.
They were measuring the lead on the household floors and infant babies’ blood. I’m guessing the mothers/infants were not at the range.
Same research team already found that gun ownership correlates to higher household levels in 44 states.
https://www.brown.edu/news/2024-03-01/firearms-lead