From last night’s Town Hall.
SANDERS: I get calls – I have gotten calls in my office, and I’m sure other senators have as well. This is the call. Somebody calls us up and said, I’m very worried about my brother. I’m worried what he might do to himself or, to answer your question, to somebody else. He may be homicidal. He may be suicidal.
We have searched desperately to find health care – mental health treatment for him. We cannot find mental health treatment which is affordable, which is accessible.
In my view, we have got to move in the direction of making sure that everybody in this country who has a mental health crisis gets health care when they need it, not two months from today.
This is a pretty good answer, as politicians go. He didn’t blame mental health for gun violence. He did talk about accessibility.
The better answer is – we need to make sure care is accessible for people long BEFORE they go into crisis. That’s not happening currently (see my pieces here and here).