Florida Senator Rick Scott joined Senator John Barrasso and 17 of their Republican colleagues in a letter to President Joe Biden urging his administration to withdraw its “outrageous” plans to block funding for elementary and secondary schools with hunting and archery programs.
The letter condemns the Biden administration’s purposeful misinterpretation of last year’s gun control bill to justify blocking funding for schools with these outdoor recreation programs. More than 500,000 students participate and are certified through hunter education courses each year. These important programs help students learn how to handle firearms safely — in turn, decreasing firearm-related injuries and accidents.
In the letter, the Republican senators urge the Democratic President to withdraw this guidance immediately and support hunter education and archery programs in schools across the country.
“While the administration claims to be eliminating dangerous activities, this guidance will, in fact, have the opposite effect. These programs provided thousands of students with the opportunity to learn proper instruction for firearm and archery safety,” the Republican Senators wrote. “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.”
Co-signers of the letter include U.S. Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).
Here is the full text of the letter:
Senators_archeryletterBiden
