Oklahoma Fallout: Assault Gun Ban : Suddenly gun control seems more appealing

To be sure, the deaths that occurred last week in Oklahoma City came from the blast of a bomb, not the barrel of a gun. But political fallout from the explosion is likely to be visible next month as Congress considers ending the federal ban on assault weapons.

Many members of Congress, at the behest of the National Rifle Assn. and other pro-gun lobbyists, have put repeal of the 1994 ban high on their agenda. The Oklahoma City bombing should temper the breathless enthusiasm in some circles for repeal. Given the concern about domestic terrorists provoked by the massacre, efforts to unravel the meager restrictions on guns could not only produce disastrous public policy but would be a slap in the face to the many grieving families in Oklahoma.

In recent months, Republicans led by Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole have pandered to the extreme right on the gun issue, calling for repeal of the assault weapons ban and limiting the power of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the agency responsible for enforcing federal gun laws. That agency--long criticized, sometimes appropriately, for either ineffective or heavy-handed enforcement--has been demonized by extremists on the right. The chief reason is the ATF’s role in the raid on the Branch Davidians in Waco, Tex., two years ago. ATF agents raided the compound with warrants to search the property for a weapons stockpile and explosives and to arrest David Koresh. A 51-day standoff ensued, ending with the deaths of Koresh and many of his followers when federal agents finally moved to seize the compound.

The Waco incident led to needed reform of ATF training and operational protocols. Nonetheless, many right-wing extremists regard the Waco raid as incontrovertible proof that the federal government is pursuing a deliberate plan to strip Americans of their freedom. That’s insane. Welcome efforts by the Clinton Administration in the last year to beef up ATF enforcement of laws regulating federally licensed gun dealers have produced a significant drop, nationally and locally, in the number of dealer permits issued. Those efforts have also stoked the paranoia of anti-government extremists.

Law-abiding Americans know they have everything to gain and nothing to fear from federal controls on assault weapons and from vigilant efforts to prevent the sort of terrorist violence that occurred last week. That’s why most Americans continue to support the assault gun ban. And that’s why members of Congress will pursue its repeal at their political peril. Only through the most tortured logic can anyone argue that more guns--and explosives--would make American safer.