New R.I. Senate leaders push revised ban on assault-style weapons to Senate floor
New Senate President Valarie J. Lawson, who also leads the National Education Association Rhode Island, and new Senate Majority Leader Frank A. Ciccone III, a licensed gun dealer, used their power to vote in any committee, and backed the bill.
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Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz, a North Smithfield Republican, and Minority Whip Gordon E. Rogers, a Foster Republican, also used their ex officio powers, voting against the bill.
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The 10-member Judiciary Committee had been seen as evenly split on the issue. But Senator John P. Burke, a West Warwick
Democrat
, voted for the bill, defying expectations.
The revised gun bill has drawn support from Everytown for Gun Safety leaders, who have said, 'Compromise is a part of public policy progress, and the amended version of this bill is still a massive step forward.'
But it has drawn criticism from the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence,
which
issued a statement Wednesday and said it remains 'deeply disappointed' in the 'weakened' ban on assault-style weapons and favors the House-passed bill.
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Senator Dawn Euer, a Newport Democrat, voted for the bill in the Judiciary Committee, and said she has prepared floor amendments that would restore the bill to the House-passed version.
The vote had been seen as a test for both Lawson and Ciccone, who has opposed prior gun bills and has said he sells a small numbers to friends and family.
On May 20, the state
Ciccone, a Providence Democrat, is one of 99 federal firearms license holders in Rhode Island who would be affected by a proposed ban on assault-style weapons.
The Ethics Commission voted 8 to 1 for an advisory opinion that says Ciccone falls under the ethics code's 'class exception,' which says public officials don't have a conflict of interest if legislation would not help or hurt them any more than any other member of a business, profession, or group.
Senator Leonidas P. Raptakis, a Coventry Democrat, voted against the bill in committee, saying, 'I need to emphasize my disgust that we are once again abridging our Second Amendment rights for all Rhode Islanders. No form of firearms ban is acceptable under the guise of making us safer.'
Raptakis predicted the residents will be less safe 'because law-abiding citizens will not be able to buy weapons to defend themselves next year.'
The Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence, which emphasized that it's the only Rhode Island-based gun control advocacy group, asked advocates to ask senators to support the version of the bill passed by the House.
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'Our No. 1 goal is to keep Rhode Islanders as safe as possible from preventable gun violence,' coalition Executive Director Melissa Carden said in a statement. And she said the House-passed bill was the 'result of years of collaboration of gun safety advocates and legislators getting to the best bill possible.'
'At a time when the federal government is rolling back gun safety measures across the board, the states need to do all they can to make sure our communities and families are safe,' Carden said.
She noted that Attorney General Peter F. Neronha had backed the House-passed bill and said he would defend it in court.
On Bluesky, Providence resident Suzanne Ellis Wernevi asked Neronha to weigh in on the revised gun bill.
Neronha replied, 'It's an approach followed by some states like Washington. We haven't looked at it carefully. I support the version passed by the House, which we studied carefully and participated in the drafting of, and which best preserves public safety.'
House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, a Warwick Democrat, issued a statement, and said, 'I am withholding comment until the entire Senate considers the bill. The final bill is subject to change on the Senate floor, so it would be premature to comment at this time.'
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at
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