Last Friday, Montana BHA board member Jake Schwaller had the privilege of joining fellow Montana hunters in thanking Senator Tester for his leadership and efforts in returning funding for hunters education programs in our schools.
"If we’re going to preserve not only the Second Amendment but hunting and the ability to have people know what a gun is and how to use a gun safely and not hurt people or themselves with it, this hunter safety stuff is critically important," said Sen. Tester during the event.
As a reminder, The Department of Education's interpretation of the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which prohibits Elementary and Secondary Education Act funds from being used for “training in the use of a dangerous weapon," was found to have unfortunate and apparently unintended consequences for common-sense programs like archery and hunter ed curriculum in schools.
In unison, the hunting community - including BHA - sounded the alarm.
Sen. Tester quickly introduced a bill in the Senate - Defending Hunters' Education Act of 2023 - which gained bipartisan support and helped grease the wheels for an expeditious and overwhelmingly supported legislative fix.
The companion bill introduced in the House - the bipartisan Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act - was signed into law by the President on October 6th after passing the House 424-1 and the Senate by unanimous consent.
“In Montana, safe and responsible hunting is a part of our outdoor heritage," Tester added in his press release. " Montanans sent me to the Senate to stand up for our rural way of life, and I won’t let any unelected D.C. bureaucrat threaten our outdoor traditions.”
"We don’t just hunt as a pastime; we hunt because it’s our passion," said Schwaller on Friday. "It’s who we are as a people."
This common-sense legislative fix will help ensure that hunters safety can remain a mainstay in our education system, and that our safe, ethical, and fair-chase hunting heritage will remain well into the future.
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The voice for Montana's wild public lands, waters and wildlife