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VPC - Poisonous Pastime - Section One Page 4 of 16 Catalog, Browning Arms Company, 1997 These effects on children and fetuses are logically of grave concern to women who are, or plan to become, mothers. In addition to the fertility problems described in the preceding section, it is known that lead crosses the placental barrier and puts developing fetuses at severe risk. Children born of parents either of whom were exposed to excess lead levels are more likely to have birth defects, mental retardation, behavioral disorders, or die within their first year.10 Lead Poisoning and Criminal Behavior. Perhaps the most ironic and problematic concern of lead poisoning in the context of firearms is a growing body of evidence that lead poisoning, particularly in childhood, may be a cause of violent criminal behavior in some individuals." The point of this body of evidence is not that every person exposed to lead becomes a violent criminal, any more than every smoker contracts lung cancer. Rather it is that there is a scientifically demonstrable relationship between lead poisoning and criminal behavior, just as there is between smoking and lung cancer.12 For example, Dr. Deborah Denno, a sociologist and professor at Fordham Law School, conducted a comprehensive, landmark study of the relationship between lead and violence among young boys.13 "Lead had its own independent effect on delinquency and adult criminality, separate from IQ," said Dr. Denno.14 Dr. Herbert L. Needleman, a psychiatrist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, conducted another study of 301 boys in public school and reached similar findings.15 Dr. Needleman explained the connection this way: I'm not saying that lead exposure is the cause of delinquency. It is a cause and one with the biggest handle to prevention. Lead is a brain poison that interferes with the ability to restrain impulses. It's a life experience which gets into biology and increases a child's risk for doing bad things.16 Even if the poisoning and original misbehavior may happen in childhood, its effects often continue into adulthood.17 Indeed, at least one researcher has suggested that lead poisoning may have contributed to James Huberty's 1984 shooting rampage at a McDonald's restaurant in California, and linked Huberty's high lead levels in his blood to his handling guns and visiting shooting ranges.18 Clearly, there is substantial cause to conduct further research into links between lead poisoning associated with firearms and rampage killings. http://www.vpc.org/studies/leadone.htm 2/5/2014