Category Archives: Gun control

#NEVERAGAIN, Benicia CA, Gun control, High School students

Guns are a problem in Benicia – historical records

Our High School students who have embraced the #NEVERAGAIN movement are realists.

Benicia High School walkout April 21, 2018

Today I heard from a longtime Benicia resident: “I don’t know if you remember this or not, but Benicia High School students were victims of gun violence, back in the 80s. (were you in town then?) A jealous ex-boyfriend came on campus and shot his ex-girlfriend in front of everybody. The entire town felt the trauma for many months. The fear and anger are legitimate.”

That’s not all – by a long shot!  I researched and wrote the following back in 2013, following the Orlando, Florida nightclub shooting.  My article was entitled Stop the Mass Shootings, and began with NATIONAL statistics.  But gun violence was a very real LOCAL problem in 2010-2013.  Someone should research gun violence in Benicia 2013-present…   (Important to note that the word “school” appears 14 times below…)

– Roger Straw

Gun Violence is a problem in Benicia

By Roger Straw
May 16, 2013, 2:30 PM

Gun violence is in fact a BENICIA problem … it is time to take action in EVERY city and town. Here are 21 links to Benicia Herald reports of gun violations in Benicia April, 2010 to May 16, 2013.

BREAKING: Armed Liberty High student accused of threatening classmate
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Benicia Herald Staff Reporter
May 16, 2013
Benicia police arrested a 17-year-old Liberty High School student they said made threats Wednesday to kill a classmate, and Thursday brought a gun to campus, Lt. Frank Hartig said. The youth’s identity was not disclosed, but he was accused of felony counts of terrorist threats and possessing a firearm on school grounds, as well as misdemeanor accusations of possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number; of being a minor in possession of ammunition; possession of an assault weapon; and being a minor in possession of a concealed firearm, Hartig said.

County youth homicide rate on the rise – Solano ranks 6th in California
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Benicia Herald Staff Reporter
March 7, 2013 at 11:01 am
Solano County has been ranked sixth among California counties in youth and young adult homicides, said Marty Langley, policy analyst for the the Violence Policy Center, Washington, D.C. San Joaquin County topped the list that is based on 2011 statistics, and several counties reported no homicides among those 10 to 24, the age range that is the focus of the center’s report.

Police search reveals drugs, ‘suspected Molotov cocktail’
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Benicia Herald Staff Reporter
December 11, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Benicia police arrested a Benicia man early Monday in the Solano County Square parking lot after a police dog detected drugs in the vicinity of the man’s car. A search turned up drugs, weapons and a suspected incendiary device, Lt. Frank Hartig said Tuesday afternoon.

Man sought in Benicia robbery dies in standoff Police: After chase to Treasure Island, Duncan Phillips shot himself
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Benicia Herald Staff Reporter
November 27, 2012 at 4:18 pm
A man sought by Benicia police in the Thanksgiving Day armed robbery of one woman and theft of another women’s car died early Tuesday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot after a lengthy standoff on Treasure Island, San Francisco police said. Duncan Phillips, 29, had been the subject of a Benicia police search after he was suspected of attacking and robbing a 52-year-old woman at her apartment on the 900 block of Southampton Road, Lt. Frank Hartig said.

Armed robbery at Fast and Easy Mart
Benicia Herald Staff Report
August 17, 2012 at 10:57 am
Fast and Easy Mart, 1500 East Fifth Street, was held up Thursday night by armed robbers, police said. The lone clerk described the four assailants as African-American men in the 20s or 30s, wearing dark-colored bandanas over their mouths, police said.

Held in county lockup, suspect charged with attempted murder of police officer
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Benicia Herald Staff Reporter
July 17, 2012 at 8:08 am
The 22-year-old American Canyon man identified as the suspect who exchanged gunfire with a Benicia police officer Saturday afternoon remained in Solano County Jail, Fairfield, after his arrest Sunday morning in Vallejo, authorities said Monday. Robert Flores Folster was arrested by Benicia police with help from Vallejo police at 1324 Lincoln Road East in Vallejo on Sunday morning, according to Lt. Mike Greene and Solano County Jail records. Folster has been booked on charges of burglary, endangerment of a child that could result in injury or death, attempted murder, carjacking, receiving stolen property and vehicle theft, according to jail records. All are felony charges. While bail of $1,050,000 was set for the first three charges, Folster is being held without bail on the latter three.

Drug, gun charges for Benicia juvenile
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Benicia Herald Staff Reporter
July 13, 2012 at 4:02 pm
A 17-year-old Benicia driver who ran a stop sign late Thursday was arrested on weapons and drug charges and was taken to Solano County Juvenile Hall in Fairfield, Lt. Frank Hartig said Friday….

BREAKING: Man robs 7-11 at gunpoint
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Benicia Herald Staff Reporter
June 5, 2012 at 5:19 pm
A convenience store clerk was robbed at gunpoint early Tuesday, and the suspect not only demanded money from the register’ but the clerk’s wallet as well, Benicia police Lt. Frank Hartig said.
The robber escaped on foot, and the clerk was not harmed, he said….

Police say Rio Vista man had 2 concealed guns
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Benicia Herald Staff Reporter
May 25, 2012 at 5:54 am
A Rio Vista man has been jailed after Benicia police accused him of two firearms violations following a traffic stop in a residential area….

Gunshots in Benicia lead to charge of endangerment
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Benicia Herald Staff Reporter
May 10, 2012 at 1:37 pm
Benicia Police arrested a 20-year-old Napa man early Wednesday and accused him of endangering a child when he negligently fired a revolver from his car while he on the 1300 block of Southampton Road, Lt. Frank Hartig said….

BREAKING: Armed gunman holds up Benicia business
Benicia Herald Staff Report
January 26, 2012
Benicia police said an armed robber entered a Southampton business Thursday afternoon and escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash.
No one was injured in the holdup at Check Into Cash, 806 Southampton Road, police said….

Police find 59 guns; resident arrested – SOME of the 59 guns police confiscated from a Benicia resident Thursday, including a 9mm UZI
(link not available…)
By Donna Beth Weilenman, Benicia Herald, Courtesy BPD 
October 28, 2011 at 3:13 pm
A 49-year-old Benicia man has been arrested and a cache of guns, including an illegal 9 mm UZI assault weapon, were confiscated after Benicia police looked into reports Thursday that the man had been harassing a 20-year-old Martinez woman, Lt. Mike Daley said….

Police arrest parolee on weapons charges
Benicia Herald Staff Report
April 8, 2011 at 9:41 pm
Benicia police on Friday arrested a Magalia, Calif., man after finding a handgun and tools commonly used for car theft in his possession. Police Sgt. John Daley stopped a 1994 Acura on the 900 block of Cambridge Drive at about 6:24 a.m. for an expired registration. After the stop police determined that the passenger, Brad Stancliff, 23, had a felony warrant for his arrest from the California Department of Corrections, according to a Benicia Police Department news release.

Police: Man aimed gun at roommate
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Benicia Herald Staff Reporter
March 17, 2011 at 5:31 am
A 28-year-old Benicia man who police said pointed a handgun at his roommate’s forehead Tuesday evening was arrested and charged with a felony.  Lt. Mike Daley said the 34-year-old roommate called police and said the man had pointed the gun at him about 6:46 p.m. after they had been arguing….

Absent plate leads to weapons, drug arrest
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Benicia Herald Staff Reporter
March 10, 2011 at 1:32 am
The occupants of a Ford Thunderbird missing its rear license plate were arrested Tuesday night and charged with weapons and drug violations, Benicia police Lt. Mike Daley said Wednesday. Benicia K-9 Officer Damiean Sylvester noticed the Thunderbird was missing its plate and stopped the vehicle on East Fifth Street at the eastbound Interstate 780 on-ramp, Daley said. Sylvester spoke with the driver and passenger and discovered each had some prescription medicine but no prescriptions, Daley said. The passenger also had a substance police believe is methamphetamine, he said.

Lone gunman robs store in Southampton
By Marc Ethier
Benicia Herald Editor
December 30, 2010 at 10:20 pm
“Friday the 13th” it was not, but a lone gunman wearing a mask popularized by the horror film series was deadly serious Wednesday when he entered a Southampton Shopping Center store.
The gunman entered GameStop, 821 Southampton Road, at 9:54 p.m. wearing a white hockey mask, according to a Benicia police report. He brandished but did not point a black, semi-automatic-type handgun and demanded cash, then escaped with an undisclosed amount, police said….

Police: Benicia man hospitalized with apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Benicia Herald Staff Reporter
December 20, 2010 at 10:23 pm
A Benicia man was taken to an area hospital early Monday after police found him wounded by a gun he may have fired himself.
The man was listed in critical but stable condition at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek later that day, Lt. Bob Oettinger said….

Gunpoint robbery at Homecoming
“One suspect pulled a black, semiautomatic gun and stuck it into the stomach of one of the victims.” — Benicia police Sgt. Scott Przekurat
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Benicia Herald Staff Reporter
October 18, 2010 at 11:26 pm
Two 14-year-old Benicia High School students were robbed at gunpoint by four teenagers Friday night after the school’s homecoming game, Benicia police said Monday.
A school administrator appeared shortly after the four robbed the two boys of their wallets, cell phones and a small amount of money, prompting the robbers to scatter, said Sgt. Scott C. Przekurat of the department’s investigations unit.
The victims were walking through the campus after the game and had entered an outside hallway along the school’s A Wing at about 11 p.m. when they were approached by the four robbers, all described as wearing dark sweaters or jackets, dark pants, and flat-billed ball caps, Przekurat said….

Gunshots spur school lockdown
None hurt; police arrest 4 in drive-by
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Benicia Herald Staff Reporter
October 1, 2010 at 12:32 am
Robert Semple Elementary School was placed on lockdown about 2:30 p.m. Thursday while authorities searched the area for gunmen who apparently were stalking a Benicia man and his girlfriend.
Vincent Winnie, a 22-year-old Vallejo man, and three others were arrested by Benicia police at the Interstate 780-Interstate 80 interchange, Lt. Mike Daley said. They were still being processed by police at press time.
The incident started before 1 p.m. when police received multiple calls of a possible drive-by shooting at the first block of La Prenda Avenue, Daley said….

City police seek help on reports of gunshots
BENICIA POLICE Lt. Mike Daley.
Herald file photo
None injured in 2 incidents last week
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Benicia Herald Staff Reporter
July 7, 2010 at 11:50 pm
Benicia police are asking residents to help them solve two incidents involving gunfire that occurred four days apart, Lt. Mike Daley said Wednesday.
The first report was of shots fired on the 400 block of East L Street about 8:10 p.m. on June 29, Daley said….

Autopsy confirms Benicians’ deaths came by gunshot
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Benicia Herald Staff Reporter
April 17, 2010 at 12:11 am
Autopsies performed Wednesday on the two Benicia residents who died in an apparent murder-suicide confirmed that Walter Little, 48, and his girlfriend, Julie Strack, 49, both died of gunshot wounds, Solano County Deputy Sheriff Corey McLean said.
Little, of 69 Vista Grande, died of an intraoral gunshot wound while Strack, of the same address, died of two wounds, one to the head and one to the neck, McLean said….

Suspect in ’08 murder sues city – Vallejo man, 19, cites arrest injuries
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Benicia Herald Staff Reporter
February 2, 2010
A 19-year-old Vallejo man who has been charged in connection with the 2008 murder of a Hogan High School student after a party at the Benicia National Guard Armory has filed a civil suit against Benicia, claiming permanent injuries were inflicted on him during his arrest.
Richard Lindsey contends that when he was arrested at his home on in June 2009 in connection with the murder of 17-year-old Mark Anthony Harris in February 2008, he was fired upon several times, permanently damaging his left arm, shoulder, hand, and right leg. Lindsey also said he suffers post-traumatic stress syndrome, severe anxiety and emotional distress….

#NEVERAGAIN, Benicia High School, Gun control

200 to 400 Benicia High students walk out, demand gun reform

By Roger Straw
[Editor: I received this from a Benicia resident who has been in Benicia longer than me: “…Benicia High School students were victims of gun violence, back in the 80s….A jealous ex-boyfriend came on campus and shot his ex-girlfriend in front of everybody.   The entire town felt the trauma for many months.  The fear and anger are legitimate.” – RS]
#NEVERAGAIN Students cross First Street for rally at Marina Green. (See more pics below.)

About 200 (and up to 400) high school students walked out of Benicia High today, joining a national walkout for gun safety and legislative gun control reforms.  (See more on CNN.  See more on VOX.)

Those whose parents phoned the school in advance were granted an excused absence.  Others were given an unexcused “cut.”

The large contingent marched up Military West, chanting and carrying signs, and accompanied by a Benicia police escort.

Many observers thought they would stop at City Park, but the students continued down Benicia’s main commercial strip, First Street, and gathered near the Carquinez Strait at Marina Green.

There, students created a group poster, registered to vote and cheered for speeches given by their peers.

No one can remember a time in Benicia’s history when students left school in these numbers for a protest.

(See also coverage in the Benicia Herald and the Vallejo Times-Herald].  See more on the national walkout on CNN.  And see more on VOX.)

#NEVERAGAIN Military West with police escort
#NEVERAGAIN arriving at City Park
#NEVERAGAIN Washington House
#NEVERAGAIN At the waterfront – Marina Green
Gun control, National Rifle Association, noNRAmoney.ORG

Robert Reich: 5 POINTS TO COUNTER THE NRA

Repost from robertreich.org

5 REASONS THE NRA IS WRONG

5 REASONS THE NRA IS WRONG

The next time you hear someone repeating pro-gun NRA propaganda, respond with these five points:

1. Gun laws save lives. Consider the federal assault weapons ban. After it became law in 1994, gun massacres – defined as instances of gun violence in which six or more people were shot and killed – fell by 37 percent. The number of people dying from mass shootings fell by 43 percent. But when Republicans in Congress let the ban lapse in 2004, gun massacres more than doubled.

2. The Second Amendment was never intended to permit mass slaughter. When the Constitution was written more than 200 years ago, the framers’ goal was permit a “well-regulated militia,” not to enable Americans to terrorize their communities.

3. More guns have not, and will not, make us safer.More than 30 studies show that guns are linked to an increased risk for violence and homicide. In 1996, Australia initiated a mandatory buyback program to reduce `the number of guns in private ownership. Their firearm homicide rate fell 42 percent in the seven years that followed.

4. The vast majority of Americans want stronger gun safety laws. According to Gallup, 96 percent of Americans support universal background checks, 75 percent support a 30-day waiting period for all gun sales, and 70 percent favor requiring all privately owned guns to be registered with the police. Even the vast majority of gun owners are in favor of common-sense gun safety laws.

5. The National Rifle Association is a special interest group with a stranglehold on the Republican Party. In 2016, the group spent a record $55 million on elections. Their real goal is to protect a few big gun manufacturers who want to enlarge their profits.

America is better than the NRA. America is the young people from Parkland, Florida, who are telling legislators to act like adults. It’s time all of us listen.

Assault weapons, Gun control, Military firearms, U.S. Constitution

Federal judge upholds Massachusetts assault weapons ban; doesn’t violate 2nd Amendment

Repost from The Washington Post

Judge: Assault weapons ban doesn’t violate 2nd Amendment

By Alanna Durkin Richer | AP April 6 at 4:05 PM
FILE – In this April 10, 2013 file photo, craftsman Veetek Witkowski holds a newly assembled AR-15 rifle at the Stag Arms company in New Britain, Conn. A ruling released Friday, April 6, 2018, by a federal judge in Boston, dismissed a lawsuit challenging Massachusetts’ ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, stating that assault weapons are beyond the scope of the Second Amendment right to “bear arms.” (Charles Krupa, File/Associated Press)

BOSTON — Assault weapons and large-capacity magazines are not protected by the Second Amendment, a federal judge said in a ruling Friday upholding Massachusetts’ ban on the weapons.

U.S. District Judge William Young dismissed a lawsuit challenging the 20-year-old ban, saying assault weapons are military firearms that fall beyond the reach of the constitutional right to “bear arms.”

Regulation of the weapons is a matter of policy, not for the courts, he said.

“Other states are equally free to leave them unregulated and available to their law-abiding citizens,” Young said. “These policy matters are simply not of constitutional moment. Americans are not afraid of bumptious, raucous and robust debate about these matters. We call it democracy.”

State Attorney General Maura Healey said the ruling “vindicates the right of the people of Massachusetts to protect themselves from these weapons of war.”

“Strong gun laws save lives, and we will not be intimidated by the gun lobby in our efforts to end the sale of assault weapons and protect our communities and schools,” Healey, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Families across the country should take heart in this victory.”

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