Bob Menendez Quotes

When President Obama first unveiled his gun control proposals recommending a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and better background checks, there seemed to be momentum behind the effort. But then the proposals ran into a wall.

In America, we have a government that some people believe is too big and overbearing, yet, when it comes to guns, we might as well have no government at all.

A powerful lobby [the National Rifle Association] dins into the ears of our citizenry that these gun purchases are constitutional rights protected by the 2nd Amendment.

I have an A rating from the NRA.

My belief is that guns are too easy to get in America. My belief is that the NRA has bought much of our congress, to the point that guns are actually the only unregulated consumer product in America. Think about that. It's stunning.

From Texas to New Hampshire and everywhere in between, we know that support for policies such as expanded background checks continue to be popular in both parties.

We in Congress must take action to keep assault weapons and high-capacity clips out of the hands of those who are so dangerous or deranged or deluded that they can snuff out the life of innocents on a whim.

The gun issue is a big, unresolved issue in this country right now. I think it's out of control.

The Newtown massacre created a tipping point on the gun debate in America.

To have the National Rifle Association rule the United States of America is pathetic.

You can have 90% of the people for gun control, but the National Rifle Association will still prevailed. They go out and work harder.

If a politician isn't perfectly comfortable with the idea of his average constituent, any man, woman, or responsible child, walking into a hardware store and paying cash — for any rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything — without producing ID or signing one scrap of paper, he isn't your friend no matter what he tells you

Let’s not sacrifice the lives of our children to the 2nd Amendment

There is a recognition that Second Amendment rights, like First Amendment and other rights, come with responsibilities and limitations. There is no reason both sides of the gun debate can't support policies that both protect the right to legally own guns for sport and safety, and reduce the likelihood of mass fatalities.

It's just unbelievable to me that the National Rifle Association has so much power.

It should be a badge of shame to have an A-rating from the NRA.

If you don't like the NRA, get a million black people to join. Go to the convention. Realize that this ain't white people in hoods, just regular working class people like you that are probably going to be friendly and engage you. And then add your thoughts to the agenda.

We must permanently reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban and the restrictions on high capacity magazines.

The NRA has become financially dependent on more and more guns being sold - especially the expensive ones. In turn, the NRA has stated that its top legislative priority is to protect gun makers by advocating for legislation that benefits them.

I work tirelessly advocating for gun violence prevention and promoting common-sense gun laws that could spare other parents the pain of having their child taken by senseless gun violence - laws the NRA's leadership has fought against relentlessly.

It was in the nineties. [Bill] Clinton was president. And Clinton was making, you know, the usual Democrat move on guns after some of event, and Wayne LaPierre said, "I think the president's comfortable with a certain level of violence."

There are all sorts of shades of gray when you're working on economic policy and tax policy and health care policy. There's no gray on this issue, to me. This is a gun lobby that is raging out of control, that doesn't even represent its own members.

In 1999, the NRA leadership in Washington, pretty much the same people intact, were for (expanded background checks.)

I've come to the conclusion that military style weapons really don't have any place in our society. We ought to reinstate the assault weapons ban that served us well for 10 years from 1994 to 2004.

We need to ban assault weapons. We need to ban the high-capacity clips and magazines. We need serious background information, system upgrade.