WASHINGTON — A controversy has erupted over the big gun safety law that President Joe Biden signed last year. Some members contend that the law will keep schools from receiving certain federal funding for programs that teach students hunting and archery skills.

When it was signed last summer, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) became the first major federal gun safety law in 30 years. It expanded mental health services, closed gun law loopholes and funded school safety programs.

But a provision in the bill is drawing concerns by advocates for school hunting and archery programs.

The language, as written by Congress and passed with bipartisan support, prohibits use of funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) for “training in the use of a dangerous weapon.”

“Any school administrator, anywhere, that’s developing a budget, if there’s ever a situation where categorical funds aren’t allowed to be used, they’re going to take a pause,” said Tommy Floyd, president of the National Archery in the Schools Program or NASP.

Floyd says his organization reaches over a million students in 49 states.

“The many reasons that I love what NASP does for students is not just inclusive of the archery but it is for all the soft skills and the attributes that the shooting sports bestow upon kids who participate,” Floyd said.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has introduced legislation to strike the BSCA language in question. He said there is a specific need for programs like this in his state.

“We have particularly a lot of rural schools where this is a big sport and a big activity,” Paul told Spectrum News. “If kids are going off hunting, wouldn’t it be great if they actually had a course at school where they're taking a course on hunting and they actually reinforce a lot of the same things that their parents tell them?”

Paul did not vote in favor of the gun safety law last summer, but 14 Senate Republicans did join Democrats in supporting it, including Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

Those two senators were instrumental in passing the BSCA and share concerns about how the law’s wording could impact school hunting and archery programs. They recently signed on to a bipartisan letter asking the education secretary to “interpret the language as Congress intended.”

Tillis, Cornyn and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., introduced the Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act aims to clarify that students may continue to have access to educational enrichment programs and activities such as archery and hunting safety education under the BSCA. The House version of this bill has already been introduced and passed out of committee. 

“Educational enrichment programs like hunting and archery are critical to our next generation’s development and well-being, and this legislation would ensure they remain available in schools across the nation," Cornyn said in a statement. 

The Department of Education said it has not withheld federal funds from any state of school district because of the wording in the BSCA.

“The Department will continue to offer technical assistance to help Congress address this statutory language issue,” a department spokesperson said in a statement.