Columnist Timm Herdt, writes about how knee-jerk resistance from the National Rifle Association has distorted what should be a reasonable discussion about lead ammunition -- much to the disservice of threatened birds such as the California Condor:

A sense of inevitability is building, not unlike in the run-up to California becoming the first state to ban cigarette smoking in public places in 1995, when some still sought to discredit research into the health dangers of secondhand smoke. Such bans are now in place in 28 states.

The NRA, hoping to stop this potential lead-free movement before it starts, has launched an operation called "Hunt for Truth," which features a website that seeks to discredit all manner of scientific conclusions about the risks of lead ammunition to wildlife and to humans who eat the meat of hunted game.

The site includes a list of "interested parties" that it implies are part of an anti-hunting conspiracy. Among them are the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society and the zoos in Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Barbara.

Caught in the crossfire of all this is the condor.