U.S. Probes Group That Teaches Children to Use Machine Gun

Federal agents are investigating a group called Young Marines that is teaching children as young as 8 how to use military weapons--including a machine gun--in the Utah desert.

About 50 youngsters dress in fatigues and go through Marine Corps-style training courses. But it was the use of the machine gun by the children, ranging in age from 8 to 18, that attracted the attention of Jerry Miller, an agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The Young Marines, which was started in January for southern Utah youngsters, has been the subject of an investigation by the Marine Corps also.

“It’s possibly a violation of the federal firearms laws, which we are required to enforce,” Miller said. “We suspect there may be an illegal transfer of machine guns in that area.”

A Marine Corps spokesman said that the machine gun was registered, that the owner had the proper permits and that its use was carefully supervised.

However, the spokesman said that two of the Young Marines recruiters, Sgt. Brian Bills and Cpl. Steve Jarvis, founders and leaders of the group, were ordered to stop participating in the program because it was detracting from their official duties.

Chris Budd, a member of the Young Marines, defended the group, saying: “It’s just teaching us how to defend ourselves if we were in a real-life war situation, which we probably will be in the . . . future.”