This is an opinion piece.

The Biden Administration has announced it will eliminate federal funding for schools that offer hunter education and archery programs. That has school systems across Alabama, and the U.S., in a tizzy.

The decision was a result of the Biden administration’s interpretation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. That act has language that prohibits federal funding from providing “training in the use of a dangerous weapon.”

You’ve got to be kidding me. U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), co-wrote the bill that became law in 2022. They have written Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to say that was not how the bill intended.

Their letter said the Department of Education misinterpreted the act to defund schools that provide hunter education and archery programs. The letter said those “longstanding educational and enrichment programs” are used by “thousands of students to develop life skills, learn firearm safety, and build self-esteem.”

Kudos to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) who says it will continue those programs despite the idiotic misinterpretation. Officials say it’s their belief that because those programs receive no federal funding, schools should not be held responsible for offering them.