ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 8, 1996 TAG: 9605080076
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: The Washington Post
MEMO: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
A provision of the defense budget that went into effect earlier this year requires the Pentagon to give away 373,000 old rifles from World War II and the Korean War, spurring protests from gun-control advocates who believe the government shouldn't add to gun commerce.
The little-noticed measure was promoted by the National Rifle Association and the congressional delegation in Ohio, home to an annual marksmanship competition that will be financed by the sale of the venerable M-1 rifles and other aged guns with a resale value of about $100 million.
The heavy, 9-pound M-1s are unlikely to be used in street crimes such as drug killings, the program's advocates say, because the main buyers have been and likely will continue to be gun collectors who must be trained in shooting rifles and pass a stringent background investigation.
But critics say the recent congressional action is, in effect, a subsidy to the NRA. It requires the Army to transfer control over the rifles for free to a new nonprofit corporation. The corporation will sell them to benefit marksmanship programs and the yearly target tournament in Camp Perry, Ohio, which is managed by the NRA.
The old Army-administered program also co-sponsored the annual Ohio tournament with the NRA, and over the years the NRA used its close relationship with the project to market itself, critics of the group said.
Congress' action marked the death of the Army-administered program, called the Civilian Marksmanship Program, which critics called one of the U.S. government's oddest pork-barrel projects. The Pentagon ran it for decades but has sought to disentangle itself in recent years.
The program harkens to 1903, just after the Spanish-American War. U.S. military officials were upset to learn farm boys conscripted for that conflict were not the rustics of romantic American novels who could nail a jack rabbit from 200 yards - in fact, they couldn't hit a barn. Congress established the project, supported by U.S. military guns and money, to promote sharpshooting in future wars.
``The gift of millions of dollars worth of weapons and ammunition is terrible public policy,'' said Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., in a column in USA Today. ``In fact, it's outrageous. The government must work to stem the rising tide of gun violence in this country, not aid and abet it.''
``This program historically has been a federal subsidy to the NRA's marketing,'' said Josh Sugarman, a gun-control activist and author of a 1992 book critical of the NRA. Congress' latest action, he added, is ``a new funding mechanism'' that also helps the NRA.
The great majority of the gun clubs that take part in the marksmanship program are affiliated with the NRA, he said. For decades, in fact, the guns' buyers had to prove to the Army they were NRA members - until a federal judge stopped the requirement in 1979.
Promoters of the 93-year-old program say it's no more sinister than the Boy Scouts, the Future Farmers of America and other youth groups that have taken part in its marksmanship training. The M-1s that are sold are not used in crimes, they said, because the strict background probes of the guns' potential buyers cull out criminals. They also point out that nine of the 10 members of America's 1992 Olympic shooting team learned marksmanship in the program.
``Any link opponents try to draw between this program and urban violence is comparable to linking Olympic boxing competition with hoodlum street fighting,'' said Rep. Paul Gillmor, R-Ohio, who sponsored the new measure and whose district draws 7,000 visitors and $10 million in revenue during the summertime rifle competition.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 linesby CNB