Biden Admin Defunding School Archery, Hunting Programs: GOP Senators

A boy shoots at a target from 10 yards away during archery practice at Gander Mountain in the Town of Wallkill in N.Y. on Aug. 19, 2016. (Holly Kellum/The Epoch Times)

Reports that the Biden administration has been withholding funds from school archery and hunting programs have “alarmed” two Republican senators.

According to a July 10 letter obtained by The Epoch Times, Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) were notified by multiple schools of the Department of Education’s shift in policy following the enactment of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA).

“We were alarmed to learn recently that the Department of Education has misinterpreted the BCSA [sic] to require the defunding of certain longstanding educational and enrichment programs—specifically, archery and hunter education classes—for thousands of children, who rely on these programs to develop life skills, learn firearm safety and build self-esteem,” the senators wrote to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

Congress passed the BSCA in June 2022 in response to mass shootings that occurred at a school in Uvalde, Texas, and a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. The aim of the bill, according to Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Tillis, was to “protect America’s children, keep our schools safe, and reduce the threat of violence across our country.”

Through the bill, Congress allocated $1 billion in funding for school improvement programs that “support safe and healthy students.” However, at issue is a section of the law (pdf) that prohibits the use of those funds for “the provision to any person of a dangerous weapon” or “training in the use of a dangerous weapon.”

According to the senators, that provision was meant to ensure the related funds went toward enrichment programs rather than the training of school resource officers, which is funded elsewhere under the law.

However, guidance (pdf) posted on the Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education website does not make that distinction. On the contrary, in order to qualify for funding under the BSCA Stronger Connections Grant Program, states are required (pdf) to ensure that schools do not use the funds “for the provision to any person of a dangerous weapon or training in the use of a dangerous weapon.”

But interpreting the law to preclude funding archery and hunting education programs, Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Tillis said, contradicts the entire purpose of the law.

“Using the BSCA as a pretext to shift critical educational and enrichment resources away from archery and hunter education classes was never the intent of the law,” they wrote. “The purpose of the Department is to meet students’ needs where they are and support the expansion of learning opportunities, not take them away.”

U.S. Department of Education building in Washington on July 6, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

Fortifying Health and Safety

The National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) boasts more than 1.3 million participants across 49 states yearly. Meanwhile, more than 500,000 students participate in hunter education courses annually, according to the International Hunting Education Association-USA.

In their letter, Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Tillis held that such programs are exactly the kind of activities the BSCA was meant to encourage and support.

“Archery gives students a chance to be a part of a team, to compete, to learn, to make friends, irrespective of the students’ background, gender, or physical capabilities,” they noted, whereas hunter education courses teach “safety, wildlife management, landowner relations, and personal responsibility to students.”

Contending that such programs “support and fortify” students’ mental health and safety—the main purpose of the BSCA—the Republicans urged the Education secretary to reconsider his department’s application of the law.

Consequences

In an interview with Fox News, NASP President Tommy Floyd said the administration’s new policy is “a negative for children.”

“As a former educator of 30-plus years, I was always trying to find a way to engage students,” he told the outlet. “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.”

According to Mr. Floyd, some schools have already begun canceling their archery and hunting education programs to comply with guidance distributed by the Department of Education.

“You’ve got every fish and wildlife agency 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 said. “Any guidance where it’s even considered a ‘maybe’ or a prohibition for shooting sports is a huge negative.”

The National Rifle Association, also weighing in, charged that the administration was abusing the text of the BSCA to push an “anti-gun, anti-hunting” agenda.

“The Biden Admin is once again demonstrating an alarming readiness to take this power as far as they desire,” the organization added in a tweet.

News of the new policy comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed by gun rights activists against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives over the agency’s “zero-tolerance” crackdown on federal firearms license holders.

President Joe Biden, for his part, has been candid about where he stands on gun rights, calling for a national ban on assault weapons and the enactment of universal background checks, among other changes.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the Department of Education for comment.