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  • 2016-07-23 (xsd:date)
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  • Doe Run Lead Plant Shut Down to Effect 'Back Door Gun Control' (en)
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  • In July 2016, an old, debunked e-mail chain asserting that the cost of ammunition was about to skyrocket due to President Obama and the EPAshutting down the last lead smelting plant in the U.S. was recirculated. The lengthy message is largely based off of an article published by Right Wing News in October 2013, which claimed that Obama was employing back door gun control by closing the plant and thereby forcing U.S. residents to purchase ammunition from overseas manufacturers: The Doe Run Company has shuttered its lead smelting plant, but that action occurred in 2013, had little to do with Obama administration policies, and did not lead to a massive ammunition shortage. The closure of Doe Run Company’s primary lead smelter in Herculaneum, Missouri, was the result of the business' failure to meet existing air quality standards (set by the EPA in 2008, before Barack Obama took office). Doe Run reached a settlement of the issue with the EPA in 2010 and agreed to close the lead smelting plant by the end of 2013: When the closure date (31 December 2013) approached, web sites such as Right Wing News published misleading articles asserting that President Obama and the EPA had colluded to shut down the plant in an effort to limit the availability of ammunition in the U.S. But the closure was driven by air quality regulations established during the presidency of George W. Bush and had nothing to do with Barack Obama or any furtive move on his part to effect back door gun control. Additionally, fears about the closure's effect on the availability of ammunition were vastly overblown. Most manufacturers employ secondary plants that use recycled materials to make ammunition. Primary plants, such as the aforementioned lead smelter in Missouri, use mined resources and typically produce batteries: Several ammunition manufacturers commented on the controversy when it was relevant in 2013. For instance, Sierra (The Bulletsmiths) said that the Doe Run plant's closure would not affect their business: The National Rifle Association (NRA) also issued a statement noting that lead usage in ammunition makes up only about three percent of lead consumption in the United States and that the domestic ammunition industry would survive the closure of the Doe Run lead smelter plant just fine: (en)
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