Dems Slam Marksmanship Program
   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon should halt a nearly century-old
firearms training program for civilians that may have inadvertently
assisted renegade militia groups, two Democratic senators said Thursday.
   Sens. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said
Congress should rescind the $2.5 million appropriated for this year's
Civilian Marksmanship Program. The Pentagon-funded program provides
firearms training to civilians.
   An identical proposal advanced in the last Congress by Lautenberg got
only 30 votes. But after last month's bombing in Oklahoma City,
lawmakers are focusing on the anti-government rhetoric of militia groups
such as those linked with bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh.
   Lautenberg and Feinstein cited reports that the program may have
inadvertently provided weapons and ammunition to private militia groups.
   ``The American people have a right to know that their tax dollars are
not being used to train people who pose a threat to law-abiding citizens
and to peace and order in this country,'' Lautenberg said in a Senate
floor speech. ``The military does not need a ready supply of ordinary
civilians who know how to shoot a rifle.''
   Tanya Metaksa, the National Rifle Association's chief lobbyist,
countered that the program is for young people, ``not for militia or
so-called militia people.''
   Begun in 1903, soon after the Spanish-American War, the Civilian
Marksmanship Program was established to ensure a citizenry trained in
firearms in case more people were needed for military service. These
days, the program promotes rifle training for civilians through a system
of affiliated clubs and other organizations and sponsors shooting
competitions.
   Lautenberg has asked Defense Secretary William Perry to suspend the
marksmanship program and investigate whether militias have used it to
their own advantage.
   Feinstein said Pentagon officials briefed her staff on an incident
last weekend in which Army National Guard security police ejected
members of the Michigan Militia from an Army firing range at Camp
Grayling in north-central Michigan. The group of 11 adults had received
permission to use the firing range; but when guards saw their fatigues
and Michigan Militia patches, they asked the group to leave. They did so
without incident.
   Feinstein also asserted that the National Rifle Association benefits
heavily from the free services provided by the marksmanship program.
   ``Federal moneys should not go to benefit an organization that openly
admits it plays a major political role in the election and `unelection'
of members to Congress,'' Feinstein said.
   Metaksa, the NRA lobbyist, said the association receives no direct
benefit from the government program. She said the NRA schedules two of
its shooting competitions at Camp Perry, Ohio, to coincide with
government-run contests at the same site. The NRA supports continuation
of the marksmanship program, arguing that it fosters safe, lawful use of
guns and provides the military with a pool of recruits trained in rifle
shooting.
   A 1990 report by the General Accounting Office, Congress'
investigative arm, found the Civilian Marksmanship Program has limited
military value. And last year, Army Secretary Togo West said national
security objectives could be met without the marksmanship program.


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