It all boils down to the issue of control. Lead may be a problem for some people BUT we grew up in houses painted with lead paint , I lived in old houses which had generations of lead paint on them and in the ground around them. I painted red lead paint on bridges and towers as a young man and got lead in my mouth and on my skin every day for many months with no ill effects. My parents told me as a child that lead was toxic to eat but did not prevent me from casting toys made of lead. Lead is a naturally occuring metal and its presence in water or food is easily determined if one is looking for it. We had lead pipes in Charleston, SC that fed our municipal water supply. A few children ingesting lead paint has fueled this public hysteria about lead. Instead of educating the public about the dangers of the world is not better to make the world as safe as a childs nursery? No guns in the nursery, therefore no guns anywhere except in the hands of the police and military. There is a an ulterior motive behind the wish to control all dangerous materials and weapons which plays into the hands of those who believe that our government should hold all power and that we as citizens should be completely under its control. These people have the Thomas Hobbs mentality. Aparently it is a strong trait in human nature. Those of us who believe that man must be in charge of his own life are not always strong enough to fight off the Hobbes types, but we must try. When a shooting war comes along we get our chance and the Hobbes guys are extremely glad to have us around but in times of peace we get battered. David