Clinton, Who Proposed ‘COPS in School’ Program, to Help Senate Democrats Draft Gun-Control Legislation

California senator Dianne Feinstein said in a press conference last week that President Clinton may be involved in helping Senate Democrats draft the gun-control legislation they plan to bring to the floor in the coming month. “Yesterday, President Clinton called and said if there’s anything he can do to help, he will do it,” she said. 

Ironically, it was Clinton who, in 1998, spearheaded a program akin to the school safety initiative proposed by NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre on Friday, which was widely criticized by Democrats, that would put armed guards in schools across the country. The New York Times reported at the time: 

Two weeks ago, President Clinton announced a program called Cops in Schools, aimed at making it easier for school districts to get money to hire police officers in hopes of preventing the types of shootings that have resulted in the deaths of students and teachers in half a dozen schools in the last three years.

According to the Times, the program distributed $70 million to 330 communities across the country – about $125,000 to each community – to pay the salary and benefits of a police officer for three years. 

We noted New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s remark last week that, in gun-control legislation he plans to propose next month, “confiscation could be an option.” Feinstein has also clarified her thoughts on the type of legislation Democrats will be drafting. Emphasizing that the details are still very much up in the air, she said, “we are also looking at a buyback program.”