Sanders says gun control not a ‘magic formula’

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) says gun control legislation will not magically stop all mass shootings, but he called Sunday for reforms he said could help prevent terror attacks.

“I don’t think anybody believes it’s a magic formula,” Sanders said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “Clearly, though, there is a commonsense consensus in this country that guns should not be falling into the hands of people who should not be having them.”

{mosads}The Vermont senator said he supports a measure to prevent people on the “no-fly list” from purchasing firearms.

“And obviously it goes without saying, I don’t think it’s hard to understand, that terrorists or potential terrorists should not have guns,” he said. “People who are being barred from flying on airplanes should not have guns.”

Sanders, who is more moderate on guns than his Democratic primary rivals, also defended his record of voting across party lines on firearm issues, saying he does not think small gun sellers should be accountable for the actions of their customers.

“There were elements in that vote back then that did make sense, in the sense that if a small gun shop owner in Vermont sells a product, a gun, legally to somebody else, who then goes out and does something crazy, do I think that that small gun shop owner should be held liable for legally selling the product? No, I don’t,” he said.

He said he would, however, support a ban on assault weapons.

“We should be doing everything that we can as a country to make sure weapons do not get into the hands of people who should not have them,” he said.