The names of the Texas town of Waco and the Idaho town of Ruby Ridge have become synonymous with abuse of federal power. In these places the US government used excessive force to enforce what many see as questionable laws. Not long after these incidents the Oklahoma city bombing occurred, where one misguided man, wacked out and on the fringe of the political spectrum, committed the worst terrorist atrocity in American history.

These incidents or battles, if you will, have sparked a propaganda war where the left has attempted to paint the entire conservative movement as extreme (connecting it with Timothy McVeigh) and the right has endeavored to depict the leftist governmental regime as trying to take away basic and natural human rights. Who is right? Perhaps some of the books below can make sense of these incidents that show how the war of ideas between left and right sometimes reaches into a lower plane of physical struggle.

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No More Wacos: What's Wrong with Federal Law Enforcement, and How to Fix It. (hb), by David Kopel and Paul Blackman is the definitive volume on what is wrong with law enforcement. This is not a blind indictment of the FBI. This is a meticulous review of federal processes that failed and how innocent Americans were killed. Neither is it an endorsement of David Koresh who obviously bore some responsibility for what happened at the Waco compound. The book also takes into account Ruby Ridge and other recent incidents of federal abuse of power.

In a Conservative Bookstore Newsletter Mr. Kopel discussed recent developments in the Ruby Ridge case. When asked about the Boundary County Prosecutor bringing charges against the FBI agent that shot Randy Weaver's wife (even though the federal government had declined to prosecute) he said: We argued that the federal Dept.of Justice was wrong not to prosecute Horiuchi. The Idaho prosecutor's theory of the case (reckless endangerment for taking a shot near where Horiuchi thought a child's head was, resulting in the death of Vicki Weaver under a manslaughter theory) is exactly what we argued for. But we also argued that Larry Potts, the FBI official in charge of Ruby Ridge, should be prosecuted. Although it can't be proven that he approved "shoot to kill" order, he did approve "license to kill" orders which violated the criminal law of Idaho, and the United States Constitution. So Potts, and also perhaps several people in the chain of command from Potts to Horiuchi, ought to be prosecuted.

Kevin Harris was charged with murder, and acquitted. Unless the prosecutor has some major new evidence, it's very difficult to see why he is being charged, unless the prosecutor feels a need to balance the prosecution of a federal murderer with the prosecution of a victm.

For a copy of the interview take a look at our Newsletter Archive Aisle.

Guns: Who Should Have Them? (hb) is by several noted experts on gun control and edited by David Kopel. Chapters include various aspects of gun control and points up how the gun control proponents have ignored facts and fabricated statistics to support an unsound thesis.

Are you a hunter who gets tired of all the whining from the liberal elite? Ken Jacobson has come out with a new book that punctures the foolish notions of the left and does it with wit and humor. Politically Correct Hunting has cartoons, stories, jokes and facts. You will want to get this book for yourself or for the hunter in your life.