Stick to the Facts About Waco : House hearings should avoid a sideshow promoted by the gun lobby

Two years after the fiery confrontation between the federal government and Branch Davidians at the cultists’ compound near Waco, Tex., serious questions remain about the conduct of U.S. agents, the oversight by operation commanders and the role of Administration officials. It should be beneficial for Congress to revisit the issue for purposes of reform, but there are ominous signs that the gun lobby is using the congressional investigation to advance its own narrow agenda.

Hearings scheduled to open today will involve members of subcommittees of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. Panel members must ensure fair and honest assessment of what transpired during the 1993 raid, in which 80 people were killed, at least a dozen of them children, after a 51-day standoff. Then they must see that the facts are communicated accurately to the American public and must come up with sound recommendations to fix any training or oversight problem that is found. Evenhandedness, devoid of political machinations, will be essential.

The task of the House investigators is not made any easier by alleged activities of the National Rifle Assn. in this matter. An NRA staffer is reported to have falsely identified herself as a member of a congressional hearing team in trying to interview a witness who had been subpoenaed to testify about her visit to the Branch Davidian compound in 1992. Conduct of this sort could contaminate Congress’ effort to uncover the truth.

It’s no secret that the gun lobby and their benefactors in Congress have gotten plenty of mileage out of Waco. The leaders of the House probe must prevent the hearings from degenerating into a showcase for the gun lobby agenda. Already buzzing about are notions that, if implemented, would prevent federal agents from aggressively enforcing the nation’s gun laws and undermine measures such as the assault weapons ban and the Brady bill.

A recent Times study found “serious discrepancies, misstatements and exaggerations” in the government’s versions of events at Waco. That may show incompetence and lack of accountability but does not support the conspiracy theorists and extreme gun rights advocates who assert that FBI agents intentionally started the inferno that consumed the Davidians’ wood-frame compound.

Congress should pursue why so much potentially flammable tear gas was used, why the firefighting capability at the scene was inadequate and why less destructive alternatives for ending the siege were not used.

It is clear that federal agents bear a measure of blame for the debacle at Waco, but the aim should be to prevent similar incidents, not bow to the gun lobby.