Why It Matters: Within striking distance of crossing the finish line on a multi-year effort, the Michigan Senate’s unanimous passage of a Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) priority bill to allow hunter education and firearm safety to be taught in schools for credit towards graduation aims to introduce young people to firearm safety, the great outdoors, and the unmatched role sportsmen and women play in wildlife conservation.
Highlights:
- Michigan House Bill 4285 was unanimously approved by the Michigan Senate last week, sending the bill to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law.
- Members of the Michigan Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus (Caucus) championed this legislation in both chambers, including the Sponsor of the House’s version, Representative Curt VanderWall, and the Sponsor of the Senate version, Caucus Co-Chair Senator Jon Bumstead.
- The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation has supported the passage of this legislation at each stop along the legislative process and looks forward to the Governor’s signature, which will clear a path for new hunters to join us afield.
With the Michigan Senate’s unanimous vote of approval last week, MI HB 4285 is only a short step away from being codified. This legislation would require the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to cooperate with the Michigan Department of Education to craft a standardized curriculum that schools may adopt to teach hunter education. The course would offer credit towards graduation, while simultaneously serving as the classroom requirement that is needed to earn a Michigan hunting license.
School is where students are meant to be exposed to ideas that they aren’t exposed to at home, and with fewer hunters in the fields and woods, there are fewer hunters to learn from. However, offering hunter education in schools could expose young people to the values of providing for themselves and how to safely handle a firearm, as well as teaching them about the role of sportsmen and women in conservation, both from a funding and wildlife management perspective.
Expanding hunter education in schools is a policy priority for CSF, and the passage of this legislation will be helpful not only to those who will benefit from it in the classroom but also to other Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucuses that have pursued similar legislation.
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