REALLY BIG GUNS: EVEN BIGGER LIES - Violence Policy Center

FCI Alleged Lie #6: VPC said “.50cal rifles were used in Waco and Oklahoma.” 99
The Truth: Barrett .50 BMG sniper rifles were indeed present and fired at federal
agents by the Branch Davidians in the Waco standoff. The VPC has never claimed
that any 50 caliber was used in the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building.
The presence and use of .50BMG rifles at Waco by Branch Davidians is so
thoroughly documented that FCI’s prevarication is astounding. VPC detailed relevant
parts of this evidence in its report on 50 caliber sniper rifles, Voting From the
Rooftops: How the Gun Industry Armed Osama bin Laden, other Foreign and
Domestic Terrorists, and Common Criminals with 50 Caliber Sniper Rifles. The original
endnotes citing specific documentation are included in the following excerpt:
Perhaps the most well known of the growing list of documented criminal
incidents in the United States is the criminal use of Barrett 50 caliber
sniper rifles by members of David Koresh’s Branch Davidian cult at their
compound near Waco, Texas in 1993. The Davidians’ arsenal included
two Barrett 50 caliber sniper rifles 100 as well as armor-piercing
ammunition. 101 The weapons’ ability to penetrate “any tactical vehicle
in the FBI’s inventory” prompted the agency to request military armored
vehicles “to give FBI personnel adequate protection from the .50 caliber
rifles” and other more powerful weapons the Branch Davidians might
have had. 102
Cult members did in fact fire the 50 caliber sniper rifles at federal agents
during the initial gun battle on February 28, 1993. 103 The VPC has not
been able to document whether the guns also were fired later during the
final assault.
Voting from the Rooftops 104
Even though no amount of evidence may convince persons intent on creating
their own reality about the tragic events at Waco, one place to start might be a law
journal article written by two authors with impeccable pro-gun credentials—David B.
Kopel, research director of the Independence Institute, and Paul H. Blackman, research
coordinator for the National Rifle Association—especially because the two also wrote
a book about the events at Waco. 105 In their law review article, Kopel and Blackman
discuss the nature of the 50 caliber rifles at the Waco compound, focusing on whether
the rifles had been converted to automatic fire. They conclude the discussion with
“the fact, discovered much later, that the .50 caliber rifles had not been converted.” 106
It is doubtful that two such aggressively pro-gun authors would devote such scrutiny
to non-existent firearms. This is especially so since Kopel and Blackman themselves
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