Christie in ’93: I got into race to keep NJ’s assault weapons ban

Even when confronted by Fox News' Bret Baier with his own words Tuesday evening, Gov. Chris Christie denied that he got into a race in order to keep New Jersey's assault weapon ban in place.

Baier showed Christie a quote from the April 15, 1993 edition of the Star-Ledger in which Christie is quoted as saying during his campaign for state Senate, "The issue which energized me to get into this race is the recent attempt by certain Republican legislators to repeal New Jersey's ban on assault weapons."

Christie said it was 22 years ago and "I don't remember. ... It doesn't sound like me." He sarcastically commented that the newspaper couldn't have got the quote wrong.

Christie continued by saying his record today is clear because he has taken steps to "make sure that gun rights are protected in New Jersey," with his vetoes of bills that would have reduced the number of rounds allowed in a magazine from 15 to 10, would have banned .50 caliber rifles, and would have required statewide ID cards "all because it didn't increase safety."

NorthJersey.com reports that authors Bob Ingle and Michael Symons in the book "Chris Christie: The Inside Story of His Rise to Power" that the governor said that same day "in today’s society, no one needs a semi-automatic assault weapon."

The book said that Christie had a similar position during his 1995 run for state Assembly.