In June 2019 , Menendez was one of four senators to cosponsor the Help Empower Americans to Respond ( HEAR ) Act , legislation that would ban suppressors being imported , sold , made , sent elsewhere or possessed and grant a silencer buyback program as well as include certain exceptions for current and former law enforcement personnel and others . The bill was intended to respond to the Virginia Beach shooting where the perpetrator used a .45-caliber handgun with multiple extended magazines and a suppressor
Virginia Beach shooting
Virginia Beach shooting
Bob Menendez