U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD) claims President Biden‘s “purposeful misinterpretation of the gun control bill” will withhold federal funding for school hunting and archery programs in what Thune characterizes as “presidential overreach.” Thune (a self-described avid outdoorsman) argues that the alleged budget cut “will deny kids opportunities to develop the confidence, skills, and sense of community that come from participating in these programs.”
Thune cites Department of Education guidance issued in April that he asserts prohibits “Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) funds for hunter education and archery programs.”
But even the website Project Upland, “dedicated to those that love wild birds, public lands, shotguns, and hunting dogs,” reports that because “over 90 percent of education dollars are from State and local taxes and the vast majority of (federal) ESEA funds were already not being used for hunter education or archery, much of the criticisms against the Federal government are misguided.”
Thune claims, without citing specific instances, that there have been “reports of schools canceling plans” to include these programs and uses this assertion to reiterate his objection to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) “gun control” bill he voted against, but which passed last year. Thune raises the profile of the funding issue to slam the Biden administration, saying its BSCA interpretation, in this case, “attack(s) the constitutional rights of Americans.”
[Note: According to the National Archery in the Schools Program, 1.3 million students across 9,000 schools are enrolled in archery courses, and more than 500,000 students participate in and are certified through hunter education courses each year.]
On June 25, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), “legislation that expands vital mental health services and provides additional support for States and districts to design and enhance initiatives that will promote safer, more inclusive, and positive school environments for all students, educators, and school staff.”
The BSCA contains a provision to ban “training and arming teachers and school resource officers,” which means teachers won’t be federally funded to teach these classes or receive money for weapons from the federal government.
But Thune argues the BSCA “was not intended to prevent hunting safety training or organized participation in archery programs.” Neither hunting or archery is mentioned in the legislation. Thune claims the administration is “making use of this provision to advance its far left agenda.”
Biden’s decision to block federal funding to school hunting and archery programs will deny kids opportunities to develop the confidence, skills, and sense of community that come from participating in these programs.
— Senator John Thune (@SenJohnThune) September 13, 2023
This outrageous decision must be immediately reversed. pic.twitter.com/nqfQLiDVeb
Thune, who believes school districts should have a choice of spending their federal extracurricular dollars on programs including hunting and archery, demands: “This outrageous decision must be immediately reversed.”
In response to the BSCA and the Department of Education guidance, Thune and fellow Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) introduced the Allowing for Recreational Resources for Outdoor Wellness (ARROW) Act, “legislation that would prevent the Biden administration from blocking funding for elementary and secondary schools’ hunting and archery programs.” The act claims that children learning to safely handle firearms results in a decrease in firearm-related injuries and accidents.
According to Everytown Research: more than 2,800 incidents in which a child under the age of 18 unintentionally shot themselves or others occurred between 2015 and 2022, and rates of unintentional shootings by children were 78 percent lower in states requiring secure storage when the gun is not in the owner’s possession. South Dakota is one of 17 states that does not have a secure storage law.
