Senate Democrats up for reelection in 2024 decried the effects of a gun control bill they helped pass.
Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), who caucuses with Democrats, have slammed the Biden administration for withholding funding from schools that offer hunting and archery courses.
The Department of Education (DOE) interpreted the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) to bar federal funding for school hunter education and archery programs across the nation. Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), who sponsored the bill with Sinema, have chided the Biden administration’s interpretation of the bill.
Hannah Hurley, a spokesperson for Sinema, said, “We agree with Sens. Cornyn and Tillis — this is not Congressional intent, hunting and archery classes should be eligible for funding and not penalized, and we are working with lawmakers on both sides and the Administration to ensure this gets fixed.”
The BSCA includes a provision that prohibits funds from helping any person with a dangerous weapon or providing “training in the use of a dangerous weapon.”
“The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was an overwhelmingly bipartisan bill that addressed gun violence and mental health in our schools,” Manchin said.
The West Virginia Democrat added, “Any defunding of schools who offer critical programs like archery and hunting clubs would be a gross misinterpretation of the legislation and yet another example of this Administration trying to advance their radical agenda with blatant disregard for the law.”
“Hunting and shooting sports are part of our Montana way of life, and our schools have long offered safety courses that play a major role in teaching personal responsibility,” Tester wrote in a statement. “Any reduction of federal support by the Biden Administration for these school programs is unacceptable.”
Hunting and shooting sports are part of our Montana way of life, and our schools have long offered safety courses that play a major role in teaching personal responsibility.
Any reduction of federal support by the Biden Administration for these school programs is unacceptable.
— Senator Jon Tester (@SenatorTester) August 2, 2023
Hunting and Second Amendment groups such as the Safari Club International, National Shooting Sports Foundation, International Order of T. Roosevelt, Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation, and the National Rifle Foundation have slammed the Biden rule.
Sinema, Manchin, and Tester’s vote for the gun control bill gave the Biden administration the leeway necessary to pursue this rule regardless of the provision’s intent.
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Marion County Sheriff's OfficeMany Senate Republicans also backed this gun control bill.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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