I'm not going to rake him over the coals for this because I'm glad Bernie evolved on his gun control position (just as I like when any politician evolves on an issue), but I have a morbid curiosity about how a certain segment of his base reconciles "as the world changed, my views changed" with "he's been consistent for 30 years and doesn't take the politically expedient position!"
My experience with a handful of Sanders supporters IRL who I've asked about this is - they don't. They will say, unironically, unashamedly, that Bernie has never changed his views once in 40 years in one sentence, and then in the next that it's good Bernie came around to the right position on any given issue because it shows that he's learning and growing. They are fundamentally contradictory, yet everything is spun as a positive for Sanders.
The most charitable interpretation one could take is that Sanders has never changed his mind on anything that's important, suggesting the issues he has changed his mind on are unimportant. How do you tell if an issue is important or not? If Sanders changed his mind on it. And of course, this is still egregiously shitty and dismissive of gun issues, race issues etc. where Sanders has held problematic views before (and maybe still does!).
Was literally arguing with a dude once in '16 over the 94 crime bill after he said he refused to vote for Clinton because of it, and her disavowing it was just proof that she was a flip-flopper and couldn't be trusted. When I pointed out Sanders did the same thing - voted for it, campaigned on it, changed positions much later - he was like "well it's good that Bernie saw the light! Also, there were good things in the '94 crime bill, so it's not like everyone who supported it was bad." Like Jesus dude, you should be a fucking yoga champion (do those exist?) for all the knots you just twisted yourself into. For some people all it really boils down to is Bernie = Good, Not Bernie = Bad.
And of course, that isn't to say at all that every Sanders supporter is like this - I was one in 2016, will probably be one when Warren finally gives up the ghost this year - or that similar phenomena don't exist for other candidates (looking at the Bloomberg shills defending him on race right about now). I just think if you're coming at this from a perspective of "all politicians are liars and scoundrels, except this guy who is Pure and Good and of unimpeachable moral character," you've lost the plot. Don't trust politicians. You can like politicians, but no one (at least of any wider recognition) is above underhanded tactics, changing views in the interest of political expediency, or any other generality people lob at Bernie's opponents while insisting that He's Different. I don't want us to end up in the position where Bernie does some uncool shit in the presidency and people just give him a pass for it because he's their guy.
