Et Tu, Bernie

As I continue to try to come up with my miracle plan to address the problem of guns in our fair country, I come across this article.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have differences on gun control. Both support expanded background checks and restrictions on assault weapons. But Sanders voted to immunize gun manufacturers from legal liability and he opposed the Brady Bill (because, he has said, he disagreed with the national waiting period for gun purchases it imposed).

I do know that a waiting period will be part of my miraculous plan. 

Gun control measures focused on hiking sentences for gun crimes fuel mass incarceration and do little to prevent gun violence.

That, I can believe. I know we need a focus on education to reduce the number of gun-related suicides as well. People should be told they are putting their lives at risk just from the fact that they own a firearm. 

Clinton supports at least one such quintessentially carceral measure: Making “straw purchasing” a federal crime. So, by the way, does Sanders.

That seems reasonable. Mass shootings may account for a small portion of the gun deaths in the country, but I know this is an issue that should be addressed. 

Straw purchasing, wherein a person buys a gun on behalf of someone who is barred from doing so, is a serious problem, because it is the source of many guns used in crimes.

Cutting to the chase.

At a moment when Congress is considering winding down mandatory minimums, however modestly, one should take a close look at any gun control measure that touts more prison time as the solution. If Sanders and Clinton are serious about ending mass incarceration, they should too.

The plan is very much still a work in progress.