Chris Gibson Quotes

There's a reason that you hear something like 90 percent of our country wants universal background checks, but we can't get it passed legislatively. If we had a true representative democracy, 90 percent of our elected officials would want universal background checks.

I think the air is out of the gun control balloon, and I think what popped the balloon is politics and elections.

Ultimately, Congressional medicine is like veterinary medicine: It must be strong enough to work, and tasty enough to swallow.

I feel that I am best positioned to fight for America's future here in the trenches of the United States Senate.

What I did in New York was bring people together, an overwhelmingly Democratic state. But I was able to get Democrats to support the most conservative sweeping policy changes in any state in America.

Flag desecration is not a constitutional issue for the courts. It is a political one that belongs to the people.

I've thought about it, not a lot, but I thought my relationship with Congress - the Democrats and Republicans - would help me get some things done. Not everything, but at least they'd be willing to try.

I think it's dawning on some Democrats that obstructing the Patriot Act, like they've been obstructing everything else, is bad for them politically.

This is a bipartisan effort. This is just good common sense. This is where the public wants us to go. They want us to not be so dependent on foreign oil.

If we want to influence the discussion in Congress, we can't oppose everything.

Most decisions involving the way that Americans live their lives are not made in the courts.

It typically takes bipartisan work to build enough consensus to get things through our legislative process.

We should roll back Common Core.

It's tempting to engage in anti-gun polemics and hope that popular opinion will dramatically shift, but it is also likely a mistake. The smarter course for those who want stronger federal gun-control laws anytime soon is legislative stewardship and compromise.

The president named Obama is probably not going to repeal the bill that's named after him.

The bigger goal of giving all parents more choices is one that will have to be discussed and undoubtedly roundly debated, but we are going to have to continue to build the case. The momentum is there on the state level in many states. That's where the energy needs to be harnessed in a new way.

I'll be reaching across the aisle to find opportunities to work with Democrats on the issues that desperately need to be addressed.

Every single stage of reform becomes more difficult because you use political capital.

The question I have heard from some Democrats saying that "You know what? Push for gun control, but not now."

I've pretty much always used my positions as a bully pulpit. What that means is strongly advocating for the things I feel are really important. Gun violence, to me, is the highest-priority public-health issue, and I have to make sure Congress is aware of it, the American people are aware of it, the president is aware of it, and that we all begin together to develop policies to exterminate the disease - the epidemic, really - of gun violence.

Common Core has been eliminated in New Jersey.

I have advocated postal reform for many years. The parliament said it was an absurd argument. The people have said it was the right thing.

Pushing legislation that would undercut our troops just as we're beginning to make progress in Baghdad.

Persuade your fellow citizens it's a good idea and pass a law. That's what democracy is all about. It's not about nine superannuated judges who have been there too long, imposing these demands on society.

There is no debate in the scientific community...We need [Congress] to change things, not to deny what's happening.