As a gun dealer, can R.I.'s new Senate majority leader vote on assault-style weapons ban?
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As Democratic majority leader, Ciccone can now sit in and vote on any Senate committee. So, he said, 'I thought it was time to officially ask for an opinion from them.'
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Senator Louis P. DiPalma a Middletown Democrat said last week that 24 of the Senate's 37 current members are co-sponsoring his
But Ciccone said he considers the bill to be unconstitutional. 'It had some language in it that I don't think would've passed muster,' he said, citing a provision for a gun registry.
Also, he said DiPalma's bill proposed banning 'a list of probably every single type weapon you could think of. He said he told DiPalma, 'This looks like an old bill rehashed, so I'm gonna pass on it.'
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Last week, the bill came before the 10-member Senate Judiciary Committee, which is seen as being evenly split between supporters and opponents of the bill. The bill's fate could hinge on whether Ciccone, new Senate President Valarie J. Lawson, and Senate Majority Whip David P. Tikoian use their ex-officio powers to vote the bill out of committee and onto the Senate floor.
Ciccone did not commit to voting the bill out of committee. He said the House might be making changes to the legislation, and he wants to see what the amended bill looks like.
Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz, a North Smithfield Republican, and 'bipartisan Second Amendment supporters' held a press conference last week to oppose the assault-style weapons ban. And Ciccone said he and Tikoian 'stepped into the room for awhile' during that press conference.
Also last week, Ciccone withdrew
'I decided to pull the bill since there were several bills that were going to be heard that night,' he said. 'Let's find out what takes place. And my feeling would be that if nothing passes, then I would be looking to form some type of a committee or commission to study it.'
So how many guns does Ciccone sell?
'If I'm lucky, maybe one, possibly two, guns a year,' he said. 'They're sold to people I know, friends.'
He said he once sold a firearm receiver (the frame that integrates other components of a gun) to the late Senator Frank Lombardo III, a Johnston Democrat who
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When asked if he had sold guns to any other members of the General Assembly, Ciccone said, 'I'm not sure. I'd have to look.'
He said he makes no money on such transactions. He said he tells people to pick out a weapon and to give him the serial number. He said he then buys the gun from a wholesaler and sells it for the same price.
Ciccone said he does it because enjoys it. 'I'm a hunter, so it keeps me active,' he said. 'Some of the people that I do sell to are my friends. They're hunters with me.'
On Tuesday afternoon, casino workers are set to rally for l
The late Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio was seen as the main reason that smoking is still allowed in Rhode Island's casinos. After
But Ciccone said he shares Ruggerio's concern that the state would lose millions in revenue if it ends the casinos' exemption from Rhode Island's 2005 indoor smoking ban. He said he is trying to reach an agreement with Bally's and union officials.
Ciccone said some patrons come to Rhode Island casinos because they can smoke here, and he fears those customers would go to four larger, resort-style casinos in Connecticut and Massachusetts if smoking is banned.
'Here you have a facility that's drawing people in that smoke,' he said. 'If you eliminate that, do you really think you are going to retain or increase your non-smokers into a facility that's not in the same manner as the other four?'
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When asked about the health concerns of casino workers, Ciccone said, 'The testimony that they have provided is that after COVID, all of a sudden they had problems with the smell of smoking in there. Prior to that, there was not a problem.'
Ciccone also explained why Senate leaders decided not to reject the
He said the proposal would not have been controversial if it did not include raises for state Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti Jr., who has come under fire over
'Knowing that other employees got (raises) and the governor felt that he needs this to retain his people based on the surrounding states, I think the consensus in our leadership was that this isn't a fight that we needed to get in right now,' Ciccone said.
So does he think Alviti deserves a raise?
'Take the bridge fiasco away — I think he's been doing a good job in the state," Ciccone said. 'We've been fixing roads, bridges, with the exception of Washington Bridge. It has fallen apart. Unfortunately, I think anyone that was the director at that point in time would be a target.'
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at
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