LANSING, Mich. – Michigan is facing a decline in the number of hunters, particularly among young people. In response, a Northern Michigan lawmaker has proposed a plan to reverse this trend by promoting gun safety education for youth, even for those not intending to hunt.
The initiative has garnered bipartisan support, a rarity in the state legislature, especially for legislation involving firearms and schools.
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State Rep. Parker Fairbairn, a lifelong hunter, co-sponsored House Bill 4285.
“In generality, it allows for schools and school districts to be able to have an elective course, which would be a hunter safety course,” Fairbairn said. “So these kids would be able to go through and take a hunter safety course throughout the school, you know, a semester and get a hunter safety certificate and would be able to purchase base licenses and hunting licenses.”
A hunter safety course is a prerequisite for purchasing a hunting license. With the declining number of individuals buying licenses, Fairbairn believes that providing an opportunity for young hunters to complete the course during school could help reverse the trend.
The Department of Natural Resources has an existing curriculum ready to be adapted into 45-minute lectures for high schools and middle schools, according to Fairbairn.
The bill facilitating this educational integration has passed the House and is advancing to the Senate, where Fairbairn hopes it will progress smoothly.