That Arms Race in Waco

The need to deploy heavily armored Abrams tanks to Texas this week to support and protect federal agents surrounding the Branch Davidian compound near Waco says plenty about the firepower that law enforcement authorities are facing there. It also speaks volumes about the kind of society that would allow civilians to acquire such a deadly arsenal in the first place.

Federal and state authorities should have been aware of the dangers posed by fanatical cult leader David Koresh and company long before the group greeted agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms with a fusillade two weeks ago.

In 1988, the McLennan County district attorney charged Koresh and several followers with attempted murder after a gun battle between Koresh supporters and rivals that erupted on cult property. Authorities seized a cache of firearms; in it were seven semiautomatic assault weapons, three rifles and two shotguns, in addition to several crates of ammunition.

Those weapons should have been destroyed. But in Texas, where 17 million people own an estimated 68 million firearms, state officials forced the county officials to return the weapons and ammunition when the cult members were acquitted of the attempted-murder charges. Koresh continued to stockpile arms legally. Now his arsenal reportedly includes more than 100 guns, more than 100,000 rounds of ammunition and enough explosives to fight a small war.

The relative ease with which those weapons were acquired shows what can happen in states without sensible gun laws. In Texas, no law mandates gun registration, there is no waiting period to conduct background checks and there is no ban on military assault rifles.

Recourse must be provided on the federal level--where Congress continues to refuse to pass even modest gun-control legislation. Federal laws should have been in place long ago to preempt states whose arrogance and irresponsibility allow people virtually unlimited access to firearms. Congress must prove that, unlike the Texas Legislature, it is not willing to yield to the strong-arm tactics of the National Rifle Assn.

The Brady bill, which would require a seven-day wait before delivering a handgun to a purchaser, is a start. But more must be done to stop the nationwide carnage. A limit on ammunition sales would help. So would an across-the-board ban on foreign and domestically produced assault weapons.

More die by gunshot in Texas than are killed in auto accidents. We all bear the costs. Chilling reminders are all those tanks in Waco and the cost to the federal government--now at more than $1 million, and climbing.