Fox News is reporting that the Biden administration is “blocking key funding” to elementary and secondary schools if they have hunting and archery programs, and gun rights and outdoor groups are fuming.
According to the report, the funding in question is earmarked under a program called the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. But there’s a problem, thanks to President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) passed last year in the aftermath of the Uvalde, Texas school shooting. Allegedly, schools with hunting and/or archery classes “are precluded from receiving federal funding,” according to Fox.
The revelation is getting negative reactions from people in the firearms, archery and hunting communities.
Tommy Floyd, the president of the National Archery in the Schools Program, was quoted by Fox News Digital, “It’s a negative for children. As a former educator of 30-plus years, I was always trying to find a way to engage students…In many communities, it’s a shooting sport, and the skills from shooting sports, that help young people grow to be responsible adults. They also benefit from relationships with role models.”
He noted how “every fish and wildlife agency (is) out there working so hard to utilize every scrap of funding, not only for the safety and hunter education, but for the general understanding of why stewardship is so important when it comes to natural resources.” He called the funding block a “huge negative.”
Likewise, Ben Cassidy, executive vice president at Safari Club International, was not happy.
“It is ironic that the U.S. Department of Education is actively denying young Americans the chance to educate themselves on basic firearm and hunting safety so that they can go afield knowing how to keep themselves, their friends, and family safe,” he reportedly stated.
Cassidy said even in a best case scenario, the policy “appears to be singularly geared to ensure hunters are less safe when handling firearms or bows and, at worst, are leveling a direct attack on hunters’ ability to pass down hunting to the newest generations.”
Larry Keane, senior vice president and general counsel at the National Shooting Sports Foundation, ripped the administration.
“The Department of Education and Secretary (Miguel) Cardona are blatantly misconstruing the law to withhold funding from schools that choose to teach beneficial courses like hunter safety and archery,” Keane told Fox News Digital.
Biden admin withholding key funding for schools with hunting, archery programs | Fox News @NSSF @POTUS @JoeBiden @usedgov @JohnCornyn @SenThomTillis #BSCA @SenMurphyOffice https://t.co/o5LKK7ELzp
— Larry Keane (@lkeane) July 28, 2023
He said Congress should hold Cardona accountable “for violating the letter and spirit of the law to unilaterally deny America’s students access to these valuable programs as part of the Administration’s continued attacks on the Second Amendment.”
And Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, said in a statement to the media, “This appears to be just another manifestation of Joe Biden’s crusade against anything promoting a positive approach to firearms, especially if it is taught in elementary and secondary schools, where young people can learn about genuine firearms safety, and perhaps prevent a tragedy.”
“Having watched Joe Biden throughout his political career, embracing every gun control measure to come along,” he observed, “this was almost predictable. History has demonstrated that if there’s a way to impair any positive firearms program, he will find it.”
U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and John Cornyn (R-TX) sent a letter to Cardona in which they indicated concerns the Department of Education is “misinterpreting” the law.
Gottlieb, however, said his group is “not convinced the Biden administration is making an innocent mistake here.”
