Files scheduled to be released from Clinton White House records will show his efforts to shackle militias and set up a “strict licensing system” for paramilitary groups, Politico reports.
In other words, gun control was to be complemented–and in places, supplemented–by people control.
According to Politico, the release is certain to raise the ire of citizens already concerned about “enhancing government surveillance powers and regulating armed groups of U.S. citizens.”
Upon release, the files are expected to show that Clinton’s plans ran into trouble when his own attorneys “feared that some of the proposals could violate the Constitution.” The files are also expected to show how then-adviser Dick Morris found a way that Clinton “could press forward against the militias.”
In the end, Clinton did not press forward with his desire to shackle militias or impose a “strict licensing system” on paramilitary groups. But he “did propose greater legal authority to obtain phone records … as well as hotel, airline, and bus details” relating to militias and paramilitary groups.
