I remember this hearing and I remember the times pretty well. I had met Mr. Olson at an event prior to all of this. He seemed to be pretty sharp and not a loon.
Anyway, after the OKC bombing the media and some in the government were trying to paint the militia/pro-gun movement as the bad guys responsible for the whole thing. At one point, intel or maybe just rumors suggested that the feds had plans to move on a number of the more prominent militia groups, taking them in to custody, raids and so on even though they were not involved in the OKC bombing.
That did go over well, and the many of the militias decided to back each other up, to the point of violence if needed. Ie if you attack a group somewhere, all the other groups are going to join in and retaliate. I know that a number of congress people were contacted about this potential stand-off. These hearings came out of these concerns, along with the media hype.
While the people who spoke for the 'militias' made their point in this hearing, both sides blinked and pulled back from what could have been a bad situation.
Most militia people stayed connected over the years, but the militia movement as a political force essentially dried up. Which is a shame because at some point an armed political force is going to have to do what the men at Lexington and Concord did.
I remember this hearing and I remember the times pretty well. I had met Mr. Olson at an event prior to all of this. He seemed to be pretty sharp and not a loon.
Anyway, after the OKC bombing the media and some in the government were trying to paint the militia/pro-gun movement as the bad guys responsible for the whole thing. At one point, intel or maybe just rumors suggested that the feds had plans to move on a number of the more prominent militia groups, taking them in to custody, raids and so on even though they were not involved in the OKC bombing.
That did go over well, and the many of the militias decided to back each other up, to the point of violence if needed. Ie if you attack a group somewhere, all the other groups are going to join in and retaliate. I know that a number of congress people were contacted about this potential stand-off. These hearings came out of these concerns, along with the media hype.
While the people who spoke for the 'militias' made their point in this hearing, both sides blinked and pulled back from what could have been a bad situation.
Most militia people stayed connected over the years, but the militia movement as a political force essentially dried up. Which is a shame because at some point an armed political force is going to have to do what the men at Lexington and Concord did.