The now nullified law passed in 1994 was originally presented as a way to save millions of dollars to the federal treasury. It was postulated that former presidents would have enough money of their own to hire private security services. Former President Nixon did this when he decided to forego his government-supplied Secret Service detail in his post presidential years. The 1994 law was to take effect for all presidents elected after 1997, so of the surviving presidents only George W. Bush and Barack Obama would have been affected.
The new law sailed through both houses of Congress and had massive bi-partisan support.
I wonder what the gun grabbers think about this?