Montana's Senators Save Hunter Education in Schools
President Biden signed bill into law today
Today Montana’s senators were delighted to announce that President Joe Biden signed into law a bill preventing his own plan to defund hunting and shooting courses in Montana schools.
Senator Jon Tester introduced the bipartisan law that requires the Department of Education to restore school districts’ ability to use federal resources for school archery, gun safety, and hunter education programs.
Tester stated, “Montanans sent me to the Senate to protect our rural way of life, and that’s exactly why I stood up to the Biden Administration’s decision to block the use of federal dollars for hunter safety classes,” said Tester. “As a third-generation Montanan, I had the opportunity to learn about the importance of responsible gun ownership and hunting from these longstanding hunter education courses – and it’s critical that our kids and grandkids are afforded that same opportunity. I’m glad to see the President sign my commonsense solution into law, and I’ll continue to go to bat in Washington to make sure D.C. bureaucrats never shoot down our Montana way of life.”
Senator Steve Daines, who has been pushing the Administration to reverse course since the plan was announced, today issued the following statement: “President Biden finally listened to Montanans and today signed a bill reversing his own decision to gut Montana hunter safety and archery courses. Our Montana way of life is not up for negotiation, Mr. President.”
As part of their efforts to protect Montanans’ Second Amendment rights, Tester and Daines led the charge to push back against the Biden Administration’s initial decision to strip funding from these longstanding safety classes. Tester and Daines quickly expressed their concerns to the Biden Administration. Tester then filed his Defending Hunters Education Act and worked to secure the bipartisan support of Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). Daines and Tester worked tirelessly in Washington and at home in Montana to drum up the support needed to pass the bill and secure the President’s signature.