1/ In 2015, Adarius Sims fell asleep at the wheel. He crashed and was taken to the hospital. Cops noticed a gun in his car. He had a non-violent felony record, so he went to gun diversion court. But now, he’s facing federal charges for the same incident:
theappeal.org/jeff-sessions-…
theappeal.org/jeff-sessions-…
2/ Sims is one of thousands facing federal illegal gun charges because of a DOJ program Sessions re-prioritized, reversing Obama era trends (graphic by @CoatsandLinen): 
3/ This gun crackdown was Sessions’ “centerpiece” tough-on-crime strategy. He said he was going after the worst of the worst. But law enforcement sources say his (still going) program is taking any low level local case it can to rack up numbers:
4/ This means that people who are highly policed and live in the kind of neighborhoods where you actually need a gun (poor black people) are most likely to get federal charges for illegal gun possession.
5/ Birmingham’s violent crime rate today is far higher than NYC at the height of the crack era. Here’s Birmingham resident with a felony record explaining why he sometimes carries an illegal gun (didn’t make it into the piece):
6/ When asked about the “deterrent” effect of more federal time for gun charges, L laughed. First thing he told me, “I’d rather be judge by 12 than carried by 6.”
7/ Both the NRA + the Brady Campaign have publicly backed Sessions’ program. This is the gun control program all establishment political forces have long agreed on: locking up poor, mostly non-white people with felony records—the very people who have the greatest need for guns
