PREVIOUSLY:

• Vehicle vs. Pedestrian Collision Impacting Broadway Traffic

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A traffic collision that closed Broadway Tuesday evening left one pedestrian dead, Assistant Eureka Police Chief Brian Stephens confirmed to the Outpost this afternoon.

Stephens said the deceased man was believed by officers on the scene to be in his late 30s or early 40s. Any more information on the victim would have to come from the Coroner’s Office, Stephens said.

The driver of the vehicle that struck the pedestrian remained on the scene, was cooperative with investigators and was not intoxicated, Stephens said. He was released at the scene.

The victim is believed to have been lying prone in the roadway before the accident occurred. 

Stephens said that there have been several testimonies apparently from witnesses to the collision, on social media and in other news reports, about the events that led up to the crash. However, he said, police have not been able to speak to some of the authors of these testimonies, and they’d very much like to do so in order to develop an understanding of what occurred.

If you witnessed this collision and haven’t yet talked to the police, Stephens asks you to call the EPD non-emergency line at (707) 441-4060, and ask to speak to Ofc. Jeremy Sollom.

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The City of Eureka will host a Community Health Town Hall this Saturday afternoon to discuss the persisting mental health crisis and its effect on local kids.

The discussion –“Today’s Mental Health, Tomorrow’ Future: Raising Resilient Children” – is a part of the Eureka Mayor’s Initiative, which aims to cover a variety of topics relating to mental health, substance use and homelessness through a series of quarterly town halls.

“Children’s mental health is critical for the health of our community – especially for our future,” Eureka Mayor Kim Bergel told the Outpost in a recent phone interview. “COVID really exacerbated that problem. On top of that, Humboldt has some of the highest ACES [Adverse Childhood Experiences] scores in the state. We’re really looking at how we can mitigate that.”

Humboldt County has more reported cases of adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, than anywhere else in California. Approximately 29 percent of Humboldt’s kids have an ACEs score of two or more, according to parent-reported data compiled between 2016 and 2019, nearly twice the state average.

What can healthcare providers and parents do to make a meaningful impact on children’s mental health? Jacob Rosen, the City of Eureka’s Managing Mental Health Clinician, says proactive engagement is key.

“Attending to mental health early on is super important,” Rosen explained. “What we see is a compounding effect. Children with a lot of ACEs early on will have profound effects on their mental and physical health later, especially if it’s not addressed. The more we can advocate and discuss this as a community, the more we can kind of get everyone behind the idea of trying to mitigate these ACEs, improve children’s mental health and invest in them.” 

Education is the first step, Rosen said. 

“When we educate people around the issues at hand, it helps them make a more informed decision,” he continued. “And when they have that knowledge, they can take that to the ballot box, they can take that to their business, they can take that to the organization that they work for. … Getting that knowledge and opening up some of those avenues for potential volunteering or convention is empowering.

Rosen will host Saturday’s meeting alongside Bergel. The panel of speakers will feature four local experts: Laura Ziemer, foster youth advocate and motivational speaker, Jayme Clark, mental health officer with the Eureka Police Department’s Community Safety Engagement Team (CSET), Dr. Virgil Moorehead, director of behavioral health for Two Feathers Family Services, and Martin Stephan, senior program manager for Children’s Behavioral Health at the Humboldt County Department of Health of Human Services.

“Many of the youth and families we serve have been impacted by various forms of trauma,” Stephan told the Outpost. “For younger youth, we see this show up as attachment and family functioning issues and children who have witnessed family violence. As youth get older, we see more risk of self-injury, social/family difficulties, along with depression and anxiety symptoms.”

Because of the high incidence of trauma in the county, Stephan said his team has been trained to use “specific trauma-informed practices,” including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, as well as Child-Parent Psychotherapy, a trauma-informed practice for children up to five years of age. For teenagers and young adults, staff utilize the Transition to Independence Process model, another trauma-informed approach to treatment.   

“I’m looking forward to sharing information about the array of services Children’s Behavioral Health offers,” Stephan added. “I want to answer questions about how the community can access these services. … I’m hoping to just listen and get ideas and feedback from the community about this important topic.”

The Community Health Town Hall will take place in city council chambers on the second floor of Eureka City Hall – 531 K Street – this Saturday, Sept. 30. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. for attendees to get refreshments and find seating and the meeting will begin at 2 p.m. Those interested in attending virtually can tune in here.

Can’t make it but you’d still like to participate? You can send your questions to townhall@eurekaca.gov.

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Press release from I Like Eureka Housing!:

Housing advocates are joining forces to defeat a new ballot initiative that threatens to stop desperately needed affordable housing. Together, housing advocates are coming together under a new banner — ”I Like Eureka Housing!” — to officially oppose the deceptively-named “City of Eureka Housing for All and Downtown Vitality Initiative.” This initiative, which will be placed on the ballot thanks to signatures gathered by paid signature gatherers, would stop the construction of affordable housing and would put the city in legal jeopardy, risking millions of dollars of state grant funding.

“Safe, affordable, and accessible housing is the cornerstone of a healthy community. Creating health starts with securing the fundamentals of food, shelter, and clothing,” said Tory Starr. Tory is familiar with how housing impacts health. As the CEO of Open Door Community Health Centers, Tory has seen how patients have suffered because of a lack of housing — and how our housing shortage has impacted the healthcare profession. “Without affordable workforce housing we are in imminent risk of our local healthcare system collapsing due to a lack of workers. I’m not referring to only doctors but the myriad number of support staff such as medical assistants, nurses, nurses aids, laboratory techs and receptionists who are needed to keep our delivery system functioning.”

“Downtown and Old Town Eureka will improve because of new housing,” said Solomon Everta, owner of Eureka Books. “Imagine a local barista or office worker able to walk from an affordable home to their place of work in Downtown. Imagine these folks walking through Old Town on the weekends, visiting our local businesses and enjoying this vibrant and liveable town. Affordable housing is a win in every way for the city.”

Susan Seaman was mayor of Eureka from 2018-2020 and has worked in economic development for decades. “Our housing affordability crisis impacts all facets of the economy and particularly hurts working families. Eureka has responded to this crisis by releasing under-utilized parking lots to be redeveloped into affordable housing. While I care about parking for downtown businesses, housing is more important.”

Neal Latt is an attorney with offices in Downtown Eureka. As a lawyer, Neal understands the legal ramifications of the anti-housing initiative. “By stifling affordable housing production, the anti-housing initiative would place Eureka’s Housing Element at risk — and with it, millions of dollars in grant funding and local control over many issues related to local control of zoning and development.”

Peter Pennekamp has worked in community organizing for decades. Peter recognizes that the anti-housing initiative is a threat to local democracy. “If one rich person can buy themselves a ballot initiative, that’s a concern for local democracy. Eureka’s downtown housing plan was developed through a long, public process. Bypassing citizen engagement through a misleading ballot initiative is bad for Eureka.”

Peter LaVallee understands the difficulty of local governments to produce housing. As mayor of Eureka from 2003-2006, Peter understands that if Eureka wants affordable housing to be constructed, the city needs to play a role in its development. “The City of Eureka owns little property that could be redeveloped for housing. The downtown parking lots chosen for housing were the most underutilized based on utilization surveys dating back to 2016. The idea promoted by the anti-housing initiative that there are other properties that could be developed is false. The City of Eureka does not control the former Jacobs Middle School site and California Highway Patrol is in negotiations to purchase the property from Eureka City Schools.”

The anti-housing initiative is likely going to be placed on the November 2024 ballot. Opposition to the initiative is a grassroots effort, driven by a love of Eureka and a concern for the loss of housing that would result if it were to pass. If you would like to volunteer, please sign up here. If you would like to donate, please click here. If you’d like to donate via check please mail to PO Box 7284 Eureka, CA 95502. Please include your employer and occupation. If you don’t have an employer or are retired, put N/A, and if you are self-employed, put “self-employed” as your employer and describe your occupation.

Thank you all for your support. Together we’ll save Eureka’s housing.

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PREVIOUSLY:

• Local Group Announces Intent to Stop the City of Eureka’s Conversion of Downtown Parking Lots Into Housing With New Ballot Measure
• Group Circulating Eureka Housing Petition Says the Wiyot Tribe’s Projects Are OK, Clarifies That Parking Lot Conversions Will Be Allowed So Long as Developers Build Even More Parking Than Before
• Open Letter Urging Eureka Voters Not to Sign the ‘Housing For All’ Petition Endorsed by 100+ Humboldt County Residents, Including Local Leaders in Politics, Business and Culture
• Former Eureka Mayors Come Out in Support of Pro-Parking Initiative
• Eureka Council Requests Informational Report on ‘Housing for All’ Initiative to Clear Up Confusion for Voters, Discusses Guidelines for ADUs, and More
• Backers of Eureka’s Pro-Parking ‘Housing for All’ Initiative Say They’ve Gathered and Submitted Enough Signatures to Get It On the Ballot
• (UPDATE) Eureka Gets $30 Million Grant for Housing Projects That the ‘Housing For All’ Initiative Hopes to Block

Elizabeth Clews was taking classes at a community college, working a full-time job at the local mall and living in a Toyota Camry with her baby when she learned that she no longer qualified for financial aid.

To qualify for state and federal aid in community college — an average of $2,000 to $3,000 a year, according to one estimate — students must meet certain requirements, known as “satisfactory academic progress.” Most notably, they must maintain a GPA above 2.0, the equivalent of a C average.

“I pretty much failed all my classes,” said Clews, who was 19 at the time and living in Ventura. “I had just concluded I wasn’t smart enough for school.” When she learned she was going to lose her financial aid too, she dropped out. What she didn’t realize at the time was that her grades also would jeopardize her chances of receiving financial aid in the future.

If a bill by Assemblymembers Marc Berman, a Palo Alto Democrat, and Sabrina Cervantes, a Corona Democrat, becomes law, students like Clews may get another chance at aid. The bill would loosen the provisions of financial aid by forcing schools to drop additional requirements that exceed those mandated by federal law. The bill passed both houses of the state Legislature with near unanimous support and now awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature.

“I think he’ll sign it,” Berman said. The bill would cost taxpayers between $3 million and $9.5 million each year, a risk that the governor may not be willing to take as the state faces a $31.7 billion dollar budget deficit.

“If there’s a little financial cost upfront, there’s more long-term gain,” Berman said. A spokesperson for the governor’s office said he wouldn’t comment on pending legislation.

Every year, about 120,000 students across California’s colleges and universities lose their financial aid because they can’t meet these academic requirements, according to a rough estimate from Sarah Pauter, a senior program manager at John Burton Advocates for Youth. The organization advocates for foster and homeless youth and is a leading sponsor of the bill.

Among first-year community college students receiving financial aid in California, it’s roughly 1 in 4 who fail to meet these requirements, and for certain groups, such as former foster youth, Black, and Native American students, the rates are even higher, according to a study by the same organization. Most who lose their aid drop out of school.

Two years and three appeals to get financial aid

In 2016, roughly two years after dropping out of college, Clews decided to apply again to Ventura College.

“When I tried to enroll in classes, I got the same message I had received two years prior, saying I could enroll for classes but they weren’t going to give me any financial aid,” she said.

Colleges keep track of which students failed to meet the requirements for financial aid in the past and deny them aid if they try to receive it again. It’s a kind of “life sentence,” Pauter said. Students can try to appeal, explaining why they failed to get a GPA above 2.0, but every college has its own appeals process. Some are more forgiving than others.

Clews ultimately decided not to enroll and spent the next five years working multiple jobs in retail, making just enough money to pay for child care even if it wasn’t always enough to afford a stable home. In 2020, while under the state’s stay-at-home orders for the COVID-19 pandemic, she changed her mind and decided to apply again for financial aid, only to receive the same message about her academic performance as she did when she was 19.

This time, at age 25, she refused to quit. She appealed the decision, explaining she was homeless at the time and caring for a new baby while working a full-time job. Her appeal was denied.

She enrolled anyway, paying out of pocket for many expenses. It took her about two years and three separate appeals before the college agreed to reinstate her aid. She said she submitted the same explanation each time.

Colleges keep track of which students failed to meet the requirements for financial aid in the past and deny them aid if they try to receive it again.

Financial aid offices have a wide range of discretion in these policies, said Pauter, whose team has tried to track the different policies in place at California’s public colleges and universities. Every school uses the federal requirement, which is broad. Community colleges must set a GPA that is at or above the standard for graduation (most colleges require a minimum 2.0 to graduate). At four-year institutions, colleges must evaluate the academic progress of students by the end of their second year.

But many schools have added other stipulations as well. UC San Diego requires a 2.6 GPA for students on certain athletic scholarships. Students at Foothill and De Anza community colleges in Santa Clara County must maintain a 2.0 GPA every quarter whereas most community colleges take the average of all grades earned over time. A few California State University campuses offer an even more lenient standard that allows students to earn a lower GPA in their first few years, as long as their senior year grades average a C.

The appeals process isn’t standardized either, Pauter said. Fresno State, for instance, has a list of approved excuses and specifically mentions scenarios that “could have been anticipated” are unacceptable, such as the “need to pay living expenses” and the “need for child care.” At other schools, such as El Camino College in Torrance and Cabrillo College near Santa Cruz, such excuses are allowed.

The University of California, California State University and community college systems stayed neutral on the bill, though all three student associations endorsed and sponsored it.

More aid and fewer death certificates

The bill would ban many of the more punitive policies by preventing California’s colleges and universities from adding more restrictive requirements on top of the federal minimum. It also sets out a list of acceptable excuses for appeals, including but not limited to “homelessness,” “loss of child care,” and “loss or change of employment.”

Of those students who lose their aid each year, it’s unclear how many would be able to keep their financial aid if the bill passes. That’s in part because the bill doesn’t change the requirements for aid; it only loosens them at colleges that have imposed stricter rules, meaning some students will still lack a sufficient GPA to qualify.

It’s also unclear how many students who have lost their aid in the past would regain it. The majority of those students already dropped out, according to the study from John Burton Advocates for Youth. The odds that they ever return are low.

While definitive estimates are elusive, Berman’s office points to the example of Glendale Community College as evidence of the bill’s potential.

“From a policy standpoint,” these additional rules are “unnecessary obstacles.”
— Assemblymember Marc Berman, Democrat from Palo Alto

Before Associate Dean Christina Tangalakis arrived at the college in 2018, the financial aid policy required that every student maintain a C average by the end of their first semester. Under the new policy that went into effect in the following years, students now have three semesters to reach an average 2.0 GPA. She estimates that changing this policy and other related requirements enabled the college to reject about 3% fewer financial aid applications — roughly 635 students — in the 2020-2021 academic year.

Previously, the financial aid department only accepted two explanations for a successful appeal: either the student had an illness or injury or they experienced the death of a family member. “I can’t tell you over the years how many death certificates I’ve looked at,” Tangalakis said. “I’ve always thought that was demeaning and overly intrusive.”

She widened the list of acceptable excuses and the following year, she saw more than a four-fold increase in the number of appeals, from 105 students in the 2020-21 academic year to 454 students the following year.

Tangalakis said financial aid departments “wear two hats” — serving students and stewarding the use of public funds. “While we need to do both, the scales are tipped towards a more conservative interpretation of rules,” she said. She felt that mentality didn’t align with the mission of the college, which explicitly focuses on student needs and equity.

“From a policy standpoint,” said Berman, these additional rules are “unnecessary obstacles.” “The goal is for students to graduate.”

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Adam Echelman covers California’s community colleges in partnership with Open Campus, a nonprofit newsroom focused on higher education.

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

HUNTINGTON BEACH — There are two decisions about the future of gun rights in California that the employees at Rifle Supply are closely watching these days.

Like many firearms enthusiasts, they anticipate the imminent end of California’s ban on “large-capacity magazines” capable of holding more than 10 rounds, a potential boon to their business. U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego overturned the law on Friday, with a brief stay to give the state a chance to appeal.

Weeks before the ruling, Rifle Supply, a gun manufacturer and retailer, began thinning out the inventory stocked in its suburban Orange County store, which is already decorated with witch hats and cobwebs for Halloween. A rifle magazine engraved with a sanctified image of Benitez, who has also tossed several other California gun regulations for violating the constitutional right to bear arms, is among its top sellers.

Plastic bins of standard 30-round magazines, not yet pinned to make them California-legal, are piled in the back, ready to be moved to the sales floor as soon as the judge’s decision takes effect.

“People will go ridiculous,” Raul Rodriguez, the company’s marketing manager, said on a recent morning. “I guarantee you we’d sell all of this out in a day.”

Meanwhile, a new state tax on firearms and ammunition looms in July, if it survives a near-certain legal challenge. Gov. Gavin Newsom — the architect of California’s large-capacity magazine ban and a vocal critic of Benitez, whom he has derided as “a wholly owned subsidiary of the gun lobby” — signed the bill on Tuesday, creating an 11% excise tax, paid by dealers and manufacturers, to fund gun violence prevention programs.

Gunsmith Jonathan Brooks works on assembling a rifle at Rifle Supply in Huntington Beach on Sept. 21, 2023. Photo by Alisha Jucevic for CalMatters

It’s not a death knell for Rifle Supply. Though that 11% is more than the typical profit margin for gun and ammunition sales, owner John Koukios said he would pass on the cost to customers, as much as he can.

But it’s another burden, in a long line of California laws and regulations and restrictions and paperwork — so much paperwork — that makes many people in what remains of the state’s firearms industry wonder whether those in charge are simply looking for a way to push them out.

“Recently, I’ll be honest with you, we felt like this business in California has an expiration date,” said Koukios, sitting in his sunny second-floor office, where antique rifles and shotguns leaned against the wall in one corner.

“Every time they change a law and take something away, it takes another chunk out,” he said. “At what point does it get whittled down so far that I can’t employ all of my employees anymore, that I can’t actually make enough money to operate a functional business?”

‘You can’t run a business like that’

To be a gunmaker in California is to whipsaw between hope and frustration, with the constantly changing contours of America’s gun control battles.

Lately, there’s the promise of a federal judiciary, empowered by a historic Supreme Court ruling last year, that seems determined to dismantle California’s strict firearms laws. And then there’s the uncertainty that comes with state leaders still looking for ways to counteract that momentum, including by passing dozens of new gun control measures.

“When you’re selling a product that’s…a purveyor of death for our kids, how about a little humility and grace and accountability?” Newsom said at a press conference Tuesday to promote the gun and ammunition tax, which was among 23 bills related to firearms that he signed. “The carnage is too much. We just can’t normalize it. We can’t accept it. So this is a small price to pay.”

Operating in such a challenging political and business climate, the gun manufacturing footprint in California is modest, even as sales remain robust. The FBI has already completed nearly 1 million background checks for prospective buyers in the state this year through the end of August.

About six dozen California-based companies reported commercial production to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in 2021, the most recent year for which data is publicly available. They collectively made 82,532 firearms, fewer than 23 other states and comprising less than 1% of the national output.

More than three-quarters of California’s production was from three companies: Senga Engineering in Santa Ana, FMK Firearms in Placentia and Phoenix Arms in Ontario, all of which did not respond to interview requests or declined to comment. Rifle Supply reported making 600 guns in 2021.

“We felt like this business in California has an expiration date. Every time they change a law and take something away, it takes another chunk out.”
— John Koukios, owner of Rifle Supply

California gunmakers note that not only is it more expensive to manufacture here — labor, materials, insurance and taxes all generally cost more — but the state also has design restrictions that don’t exist in most of the country. The popular AR-15 model rifle cannot be sold in California, for example, because it is classified as an assault weapon. That narrows the market for weapons made in California, according to manufacturers, because their more limited functionality holds less appeal to out-of-state customers.

“You just can’t run a business like that,” said Adam Weatherby, who generated headlines five years ago when he announced that he would relocate his company, Weatherby, a manufacturer of hunting rifles and shotguns, from Paso Robles to Wyoming. “At the end of the day, we were unable to stay competitive.”

Weatherby said he also had trouble recruiting employees to California because they had to give up so many personal weapons that are illegal in the state. Those he did hire were delayed starting for months while the California Department of Justice conducted background checks.

After four years of talking to other states and weighing the massive disruption of moving across the country, Weatherby finally committed in 2018 to Wyoming, which offered financial incentives. Though he was sad to leave California, where his grandfather founded the company in 1945, Weatherby said “it’s been the absolute best decision” — especially as he watched the state’s gun laws grow only tougher while his business doubled in size during the first three years in Wyoming.

“Hunting is a way of life here, so it culturally fit us as well,” he said. “We lost that in California some time ago. It didn’t feel like home anymore. We didn’t feel welcome anymore.”

‘I’d leave California in a heartbeat’

Not every gunmaker has the desire or the freedom to leave California. But it’s not uncommon at this point for owners and employees of these companies to imagine their own futures elsewhere — echoing a broader reorientation of the industry, away from its historic roots in the Northeast to friendlier territory in the South — even if it feels like pure fantasy.

“It definitely would be suitable and better for business if we moved out of state,” said Laurenzo Russi, who founded Titan Ballistics in Orange in 2015 to make competition rifles.

The following year, California revised its ban on assault weapons to make it more difficult for shooters to rapidly swap out magazines in their firearms. After Titan Ballistics updated its designs, Russi said he lost customers in other states, and he leaned into luxury customization, such as paint jobs and laser engraving, to offset the drop in revenue.

Yet all of his family, and their longtime business that Russi expects to eventually take over, is in California. “It’s not a realistic or a smart move for me,” he said.

Gunsmith Don Gregory shows off two new single action firearms recently released by Juggernaut Tactical in Orange on Sept. 21, 2023. Photo by Alisha Jucevic for CalMatters

Less than a mile away, along a stretch of auto body shops, Juggernaut Tactical’s workshop whirred on a recent afternoon as more than a dozen computerized machines shaped hunks of metal into lower receivers, thumb rests and rear pins.

“I’m ready to leave here. I’d leave California in a heartbeat,” gunsmith Don Gregory said as he presented the company’s display models in its small showroom. The owner had talked lately about moving out of the state, he said, but not seriously.

Gregory was less concerned about California’s mounting restrictions on firearms. Last year, Attorney General Rob Bonta ordered Juggernaut Tactical, which sells rifles, pistols and parts online and in gun stores across the state, to stop distributing a series of rifles that he said qualified as illegal assault weapons.

“Restrictions, we’ve always found our way around those,” Gregory said. “There’s tons and tons of smart people in California who are using their brains to keep innovating.”

Rear pins used to make firearms California-compliant are made in a machine at Juggernaut Tactical in Orange on Sept. 21, 2023. Photo by Alisha Jucevic for CalMatters

For the Rifle Supply team, leaving California seems out of the question. It’s not that they haven’t thought about going to Arizona or Idaho. They certainly understand why some other companies have. But they have aging parents to take care of and two dozen employees to consider. California is their home.

“I don’t think abandoning this state in a fight where it’s our constitutional right to bear arms is good,” said Justin Baca, Rifle Supply’s chief operating officer. “That would be like tucking tail and running. And that’s not our personalities.”

What feels more likely is they eventually get forced out. California’s Democratic leaders are clearly not fans of guns, they figure, but the Second Amendment prevents them from banning firearms altogether. So the state will just keep passing laws that make it more difficult for gun manufacturers and dealers to operate, until they no longer can — a potential nightmare for California residents as much as the businesses.

“The day that happens,” Rodriguez, the marketing manager, said, “it’s Gotham City.”

The rise and fall of ‘Ring of Fire’

It’s not entirely out of the question. Only a few decades ago, Southern California was a hub of handgun manufacturing.

In the wake of the federal Gun Control Act of 1968 — which outlawed the import but not the domestic production of small, poorly made pistols known as “Saturday night specials” — a network of manufacturers primarily controlled by members of a single extended family developed on the outskirts of the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

Marketed as a cheap self-defense option, the weapons gained popularity during an era of rising crime, and by 1992, six Southern California companies produced more than a third of all handguns manufactured in the United States that year, some 686,000 pistols.

“It was an anomaly,” said Garen Wintemute, a UC Davis gun violence researcher who dubbed the companies the “Ring of Fire” in a 1994 report about their operations.

The guns were unreliable, spurring safety concerns and product liability claims. They were also recovered disproportionately at crime scenes, fueling a political crackdown that bubbled up from local governments to the Legislature, which in 1999 mandated that any handgun model sold in California pass independent safety testing.

Wintemute said the law created standards that advocates knew the Ring of Fire companies would largely fail to meet. Most closed up shop or relocated to other states; only Phoenix Arms remains.

“The people who ran these companies were not gun people. They were let’s-make-money people,” Wintemute said. “Easy come, easy go. Conditions became difficult. The man who started it all had died. And the rest of them moved on.”

Flanked by lawmakers and gun safety advocates, Gov. Gavin Newsom signs new gun legislation into law at the Capitol annex in Sacramento on Sept. 26, 2023. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

State leaders deny they are trying to shut down the gun industry in California.

“If that was the intent, it would have been a much higher number,” said Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, the Woodland Hills Democrat who pushed for the new 11% excise tax on firearms and ammunition. Modeled on a similar federal levy for wildlife conservation, it will bring in an estimated $160 million annually for violence intervention programs, school safety improvements and law enforcement efforts to confiscate guns from people who are prohibited from owning them.

“We view this as a modest tax,” Gabriel said. “The purpose of it is to raise revenue to support programs that we think are going to protect communities and save lives in the state of California.”

At the signing ceremony, Newsom, his tongue perhaps planted firmly in cheek, suggested that a tax supporting public safety might make Californians look at guns differently.

“Maybe that’s a good business opportunity,” he said.

‘All I can do is roll with it’

Located in an inconspicuous office park, the only thing that distinguishes Rifle Supply from the nearby design firms, flooring showroom, glass workshop, gym and children’s dance studio is a blue banner out front, visible from the road, that says GUNS.

The company, which Koukios founded in 2010 to sell parts online, moved into this larger space when the coronavirus pandemic brought a surge of new customers and allowed Rifle Supply to triple its staff. The original store, opened a few buildings down in 2016, is now a workshop for repairs, custom paint jobs, milling lower receivers and assembling two variations of the AR-15.

Upstairs is a studio where the Rifle Supply team records its podcast. Alongside car wraps and T-shirt giveaways, it’s the sort of unconventional promotion the company relies on to build its brand because more traditional channels are not always available to a firearms manufacturer. Facebook and Instagram don’t accept advertisements for weapons, while a California ban on marketing guns to minors, passed last year and blocked in court this month, further chilled its plans.

“I’ve had this burning, burning want to have billboards up,” Baca, the chief operating officer, said. “I’ve called all the billboard companies. None of them will do business with us because we work with guns.”

Despite its success — Rifle Supply earns about $10 million per year in sales, according to Koukios — the attitude towards firearms in California, wary at best and perhaps downright hostile, has constrained the business’ growth and may threaten its existence.

Recent plans to open another store in San Clemente fell through because the insurance company wanted to jack up rates for other tenants in the building as well. Koukios said he had to hire a second compliance officer because of all the extra paperwork California requires for gun sales on top of the federal background check.

When California moved last summer to crack down on homemade “ghost guns,” reclassifying unfinished receivers and kits to build them into weapons as firearms that must be serialized, Koukios said it cost Rifle Supply about 20% of its business. The store has leaned more into selling ammunition and accessories to make up for it.

“I don’t like it, but all I can do is roll with it,” Koukios said. “I think there’s a lot of politicians, especially in California, but all over the country, mostly Democratic, that want to cut their teeth on this particular issue. Because if they get something passed, they’re like, look how much I can do.”

Rifle Supply employees roll their eyes at many of California’s gun control measures. The 10-day “cooling off” period before customers can take possession of firearms they’ve purchased — now being challenged again in court — might make sense for a first-time buyer, they argue, but it’s unnecessary for someone who already owns weapons. While Californians can only purchase one firearm every 30 days, they can buy as many parts as they want and then build their own guns, though that is set to change in January.

“Whatever their ideology is on it is stupid,” Rodriguez said. “It always comes down to politicians making these rules on something they don’t know about.”

Owner John Koukios in his office at Rifle Supply in Huntington Beach on Sept. 21, 2023. Koukios said he grew up in Huntington Beach and although it may be cost efficient for the business to set up shop in a different state, this is his home. He said he doesn’t see himself moving but would consider opening a secondary store in another state. Photo by Alisha Jucevic for CalMatters

Koukios is encouraged by a March court decision partially striking down California’s handgun safety standards, in which a federal judge argued the law has actually blocked guns with updated, safer technology from entering the market here. The state, which is appealing, could be forced to allow the sale of new handgun models for the first time in two decades.

Then there’s that tax. Another chunk out.

“An additional tax on sales. You can’t sell these anymore. These are illegal. It just keeps going,” Koukios said. “It gets tiring having the conversation with customers about why they can’t have the thing.”

How hopeful is he that things will work out for Rifle Supply? On a scale of 1 to 10, he’s at a 7 or 8 that the company will make it 10 more years in California.

“Well, I’m a perpetual optimist,” Koukios said. On the wall hung a “Star Wars” poster with his face photoshopped onto Luke Skywalker.

He immediately seemed to backtrack as he explained the rating. “Because within that period of time, it’ll either be chipped away so far that it just won’t make sense and we’ll move on to something else or leave the state,” he said.

“That feeling comes and goes.”

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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

MEL BERTI CELEBRATION OF LIFE
OCTOBER 29, 2023 – 1 p.m.
RIVERLODGE, 1800 RIVERWALK DR.
FORTUNA, CA

Melvin John Berti went to Eternal Life on July 23, 2023 at the age of 84. Mel was a Fortuna native, born and raised in Fortuna. He attended Fortuna schools and has spent much of his life involved in the community and doing things for the betterment of Fortuna.

Mel was a volunteer fireman for the Fortuna Volunteer Fire Department for 52 years. He then went on to serve as a Commissioner on the Board of Directors for the Fortuna Fire Protection District. He served on the Fortuna City Council for 28 years, twice serving as Mayor. He was named Citizen of the Year in 2005. Mel served on the Fortuna Rodeo Association Board for many years and headed up the Rodeo Barbeque for many years. He was honored as Grand Marshall by the Fortuna Rodeo Association in 2022. He also served as a Director of the Humboldt County Fair Association for 14 years.

Mel spent many years involved in sports both coaching and also was a familiar voice on the radio as a broadcaster with both Bill Terry and Tag Wotherspoon, announcing games for local high schools and College of the Redwoods.

Mel will also be remembered by his smile and in his white apron behind the meat counter ready to prepare the perfect cut of meat for his customers.

Mel survived by his wife of 45 years, Sharon, and five children, Steven (Cheryl), Richard, Allison (Shawn), Jennifer (Owen) and Alex; his brother, Don (Donna) ; and numerous grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and in-laws.

Mel touched many lives and will be greatly missed by all his family and friends.

Donation in Mel’s memory can be made to the Fortuna Volunteer Fire Department, Hydesville Community Church, the Eureka First Church of the Nazarene, or a charity of your choosing.

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Emeritus Professor Barry Dalsant, who passed away last month, was a former English Department Chair and General Faculty President for HSU. He taught at HSU for over 40 years, leaving behind multiple generations of students who were inspired by his passion for English, quick wit and easy sense of humor. His colleagues describe Barry as kind, generous, a good friend, mentor, and colleague. There are many stories of the significant impact that Barry had on the lives of students, faculty, and staff.

Barry grew up in Denver’s northside in a middle class neighborhood dominated by World War II one story houses. His neighborhood was adjacent to the Highlands area which had been the first settlement in Denver. After high school Barry was accepted into Harvard where he completed his undergrad in English. He went on to receive his Masters in English from the University of Wisconsin and then his PhD from UC Berkeley. He received his first full-time teaching offer from Humboldt State University and made the county his home for the rest of his life.

In 1994 he married Humboldt-native Jennifer Eliason, whom he met as the Administrative Assistant in the English Department, in a relationship that lasted until her death last year. He didn’t have any biological childen, but he loved being stepfather for Jennifer’s three children; Brendan, Trevor and Megan.

He always kept his life on an even keel and navigated it with a steady hand. That was true even after his stroke and the physical problems that followed. He always had an aura of peace and serenity around him. He was comfortable in his own skin. He was kind, supportive, very bright, and had a wonderful sense of humor which he put to good use.

He will be missed but not forgotten.

There will be a Memorial gathering for Barry:

Date: Saturday, October 7, 2023
Time: 2-4 p.m.
Place: Green and Gold Room, Founders Hall, Cal Poly Humboldt
*Parking should be free at Cal Poly Humboldt on Saturdays.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Barry Dalsant’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.