In a move that could impact popular student archery and hunter safety courses across Alaska, the Biden administration is now withholding key federal funding for elementary and secondary schools that provide archery or hunting classes.
The U.S. Department of Education told Fox News that the decision to block these funds is based off an interpretation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), passed by Congress last year, after a series of mass shootings.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski was one of more than a dozen Senate Republicans who supported the BSCA, which was the first gun control measure approved by Congress in decades.
Murkowski touted the bill for toughening background checks and improving school safety, claiming, “It is responsive, I think it is responsible, and I think it is very targeted.”
The bill, however, included an amendment that prohibited using federal school funds to provide “training in the use of a dangerous weapon.” Now the U.S. Education Department is using the law to block shooting sports across the nation.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game hosts annual student archery tournaments every year. It has also partnered with local Alaska schools to provide hands-on gun safety classes for students who want to get their hunter certification through school courses.
More than 350 Alaska students in grades 4-12 participated in the NASP archery program last year. This includes hundreds of school-based programs from all across the state.
“Statistics show that school archery programs engage more students in the educational process, improve classroom performance, and reduce dropout rates,” the state’s National Archery in Schools Program (NASP) webpage notes. “Nationwide millions of students have safely participated in NASP, and more than 200 schools in Alaska participate in the NASP Program with more teachers being trained as Basic Archery Instructors every year.”
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game hosts annual student archery tournaments every year. It has also partnered with local Alaska schools to provide hands-on gun safety classes for students who want to get their hunter certification through school courses.
Alaska’s hunter education course provides training in firearms safety, wildlife conservation, and respect for natural resources, landowners and other hunters. Graduates receive a lifetime certification recognized by all states, Canadian provinces, and Mexico. Since its inception in 1949, over 30 million students have completed hunter education training in the United States.
“Conclusive evidence shows that hunter education courses have dramatically reduced hunting related firearms accidents — up to 75% in some states — and have brought about positive change in hunter skills, attitudes, and behavior,” the Alaska Fish and Game website notes.
Alaska law requires that hunters born after Jan.1, 1986, who are 18 or older, to pass a hunter safety course in order to hunt in certain areas of the state.
Advocates for youth shooting sports warn that the Biden administration’s interpretation of the law threatens thousands of school shooting programs that serve millions of students.
Tommy Floyd, the president of the National Archery in the Schools Program, told Fox News that his organization serves 1.3 million students from nearly 9,000 schools across 49 states.
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“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,” Floyd told Fox. “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 the International Hunter Education Association, hunter education courses train and certify more than 500,000 students annually. Such courses are a reason hunting related injury rates have declined for years while populations of deer, wild turkey, elk, geese and other species of game have increased exponentially for years.
Several GOP lawmakers have blasted the Biden administration over its interpretation of the act.
“This is shameful, but not at all surprising,” Rep. Dan Bishop. R-N.C., told Fox News. “The Biden admin will take any opportunity to stomp on your constitutional rights — even down to teaching kids archery and hunting skills.”
