Trump order backs lead ammunition as UK ban countdown continues

The order, titled Reinvigorating America’s Hunting Heritage and signed on 17 September, gives the US Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce and War 180 days to propose changes to rules that restrict access to the land they manage, including a direction to “permit the use of traditional lead ammunition and tackle”. It was announced at a White House ceremony attended by executives from Beretta USA and senior figures from Ducks Unlimited and the Boone and Crockett Club, among others.

What does the order change in the United States?

Within 90 days the Interior Department must allow hunting of species not listed under the Endangered Species Act at the Castle Mountains National Monument in California and the Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho. The wider review is to apply a presumption that federal land outside national parks is open to hunting unless a local closure is justified, and to encourage predator management, prescribed fire and grazing in support of game populations.

On lead, the order does not name a rule to repeal. Field & Stream reported that federal rules already require non-toxic shot for waterfowl and that there is no blanket ban on lead bullets for big game on federal land, so the practical effect will depend on what the agencies propose by March 2027.

Britain is going the other way

The REACH (Amendment) Regulations 2026, announced on 3 March and applying in England, Scotland and Wales, ban the use and sale of lead shot for live quarry shooting and for recreational clay shooting from 1 April 2029, with exemptions for elite athletes in Olympic and Paralympic disciplines. Lead bullets in calibres of 6.17mm and above are banned for live quarry from the same date, and their use for outdoor rifle target shooting is restricted from 1 April 2028 unless a range operates the required risk management measures. Airgun pellets are not affected, and Northern Ireland is outside the regulations.

BASC’s guidance is that shooters cannot stock up and use lead cartridges after the deadline, because the restriction covers use as well as sale.

Why does it matter to shooters here?

The two largest English-speaking shooting markets now point in opposite directions, at a moment when British shooters, cartridge makers and dealers are working through a transition to steel, bismuth and copper. Manufacturers that serve both markets will carry lead lines for American hunters through and beyond 2029, and the argument that lead is a settled question has just been reopened on the other side of the Atlantic. None of that moves the British dates.

What happens next

The US agencies have until mid-March 2027 to publish their proposals, and the monument hunting openings fall due in December. In Great Britain the outdoor rifle range restriction starts on 1 April 2028 and the live quarry ban on lead shot and larger lead bullets on 1 April 2029; BASC’s questions-and-answers page sets out the detail for shotgun, rifle and airgun users.