BREAKING: House Passes Tester’s Bipartisan Bill to Protect Shooting Sports and Hunter Safety Classes

Senator’s bipartisan bill moves one step closer to becoming law

The U.S. House of Representatives today passed U.S. Senator Jon Tester’s bipartisan legislation that would force the Biden Administration to reverse course on their decision to prohibit the use of federal funds for school shooting sports and hunter education classes.

Tester’s bipartisan bill now awaits final Senate passage before heading to the President’s desk.

“The decision by the Biden Administration and Washington D.C. bureaucrats to strip funding from school shooting sports and hunter safety classes simply makes no sense,” said Tester. “That’s why I’m leading the charge to protect our Montana way of life and ensure our students have access to these critical safety courses. I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to get this bill across the finish line and signed into law.”

As part of his efforts to protect Montanans’ Second Amendment rights, Tester has led the charge to push back against the Biden Administration’s decision to strip funding from these longstanding safety classes. 

Tester’s bipartisan legislation would require the Department of Education to restore school districts’ ability to use federal resources for school archery, gun safety, and hunter education programs. Additionally, Tester last month expressed his immediate concerns in a letter to the Secretary of Education after learning the Department interpreted the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) in a way that would block federal funding from being used for these long-standing programs.

Last week, Tester penned a column in Montana state-wide newspapers arguing that the Biden Administration is making “a poor decision that will hurt thousands of students who benefit from these resources every year.”

As a proud gun-owner and strong supporter of the Second Amendment, Tester has repeatedly opposed banning assault weapons and will always protect the rights of law-abiding Montana gun owners.