U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-SD) joined several Republican senators in sending a letter to Biden administration officials urging the withdrawal of a plan to block funding for hunting and archery programs in elementary and secondary schools.
In April, the U.S. Department of Education provided a guidance prohibiting Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) funds for hunter education and archery programs. Since then, the senators stated, schools across the country are planning to remove archery and hunting education from their curriculum.
“While the administration claims to be eliminating dangerous activities, this guidance will, in fact, have the opposite effect,” the senators wrote. “These programs provided thousands of students with the opportunity to learn proper instruction for firearm and archery safety. By including hunter education in schools, students are given the tools to be safe and responsible hunters. It is now clearer than ever that the Biden Administration will use the bill to attack the constitutional rights of Americans.”
In addition to Sen. Thune, letter signatories also included U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Steve Daines (R-MT), Deb Fischer (R-NE), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).
“Over 500,000 students participate and are certified through hunter education courses each year,” the senators wrote. “Learning to safely handle firearms results in a decrease in firearm-related injuries and accidents. In fact, hunter education programs have decreased hunting accidents by over 50% since the program’s development over 50 years ago. By including hunter education in schools, students are given the tools to be safe and responsible hunters.”
The National Archery in Schools program reported that there are 1.3 million students across 9,000 schools enrolled in archery programs, according to a release from Sen. Thune’s office.