Don't know if this has been posted here before? I know some of you rednecks will have an interest in this. I know I did... In December, the final primary lead smelter in the United States will close. The lead smelter, located in Herculaneum, Missouri, and owned and operated by the Doe Run Company, has existed in the same location since 1892. The Herculaneum Smelter is currently the only smelter in the United States which can produce lead bullion from raw lead ore that is mined nearby in Missouri’s extensive lead deposits, giving the smelter its “primary” designation. The lead bullion produced in Herculaneum is then sold to lead product producers, including ammunition manufactures for use in conventional ammunition components such as projectiles, projectile cores, and primers. … Doe Run made significant efforts to reduce lead emissions from the smelter, but in 2008 the federal Environmental Protection Agency issued new National Ambient Air Quality Standards for lead that were 10 times tighter than the previous standard. Given the new lead air quality standard, Doe Run made the decision to close the Herculaneum smelter. It would be hard to imagine a better example of the Obama Regime’s use of the EPA to impose backdoor tyranny. We would let you have guns, but you see lead causes air pollution. If you think ammo prices are high now, wait until they close the smelter. After the Herculaneum smelter closes its doors in December, entirely domestic manufacture of conventional ammunition, from raw ore to finished cartridge, will be impossible. The national security implications of severely curtailing our ability to produce our own ammunition are obvious. But to our current rulers, national security means something very different from what it did in the past. The idea is no longer to defend America from foreign threats, but to impose the ultimate threat from within. Ohio Deere "The republic can survive a fool. It is less likely to survive the multitude of fools who made him their leader."