Guns and Mental Health by Walk the Talk America

Deborah Alexander is the widow to the late Frank Alexander, former bodyguard for rapper Tupac Shakur. Frank was seemingly torn between two worlds and Deborah bore witness to all of the torment, joy, frustration, pain, triumph, and chaos that Frank endured, all the way through the moment where he took his own life - in front of Deborah, in their home - with his own gun. Deborah's story is full...

Dr. Sherry Molock is an associate professor of psychology at the George Washington University and also holds a Master of Divinity degree. She works with faith-based communities to educate on sexual matters, HIV/AIDS, and suicide prevention. Mike met Sherry through their work together with Convergence, a group of disparate leaders across the firearms, violence, and suicide prevention communities ac...

Perhaps best known in the gun community for successfully defending his life against an armed attacker, Mychael is also a gun store owner , follower of Jesus, and father of three young children. He is also the first African American under the age of 25 in the state of Illinois to obtain a FFL and also the youngest FFL holder in the country to date.  In this episode Myke shares his story of self def...

Sandy RIchardson lives in New York and has owned guns her whole life. She also works in health care. Those two world collided in 2020 when she sought some counseling for pandemic- and other life-related stress, only to discover that she was "flagged" in a state health database designed to prevent law-abiding citizens from obtaining firearms after receiving mental health treatment.  This...

Top Shot Chris rejoins Mike and Jake to discuss mental health in deeper detail, sharing his own path to recovery via counseling, as well as his perspective on the increase in violence crime perpetrated against Asian Americans. He also talks about home defense and the stress that has befallen many people due to the economic downturn.   Send us Fan Mail Walk the Talk America would like to thank our...

Tom Nguyen bought his first gun intentionally to take his own life with it. In this episode we discuss masculinity, race relations, liberalism and conservatism, and a few other subjects. Tom is a Liberal Gun Club certified Instructor, NRA certified Instructor & Range Safety Officer, and National African American Gun Association member. He offers private & group lessons at various locations...

Erin Yeung has been in Public Safety Dispatch for 17 years and is the owner/host of the podcast "Your Oxygen Mask First", which is aimed at guiding people in "helping" roles and professions to resources for mental health and overall wellness.  The podcast also shares stories of people who have overcome struggles and are now thriving, as well as interviews with experts in these...

Kim served in the United States Air Force and presently advocates in many areas for firearms owners, including as the Delaware delegate for DC Project .  In this podcast Kim shares multiple stories and opinions; using cannabis as a substitute for all psychotropic medication, women as targets for assault, self-defense with a firearm, and about how she leads community members to have their voices he...

Jimmy Graham spent more than a decade and a half as a Navy SEAL while earning multiple certifications and promoting several times. He has served overseas in combat missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Libya. He has trained federal, state, and local law enforcement as well as EMS, firefighters, and dispatch personnel, traveling across the nation to do all of the above. Jimmy works closely wi...

Mike and Jake affectionately refer to Gianni Pirelli as the "Godfather" of guns and mental health because he authored the book that formed the foundation of Walk the Talk America's work in the clinical realm . The Behavioral Science of Firearms   is the seminal publication that gave WTTA the impetus to educate clinical practitioners in their gun community cultural competence.  Dr. P...

Darin Balaam is the 27th person elected to serve as Sheriff of Washoe County since the Office was founded in 1861. He took the oath of office on January 7, 2019, a momentous step for a law enforcement career that began when he was 21 years old.  Sheriff Balaam’s career includes more than 21 years at the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office. He held every rank from deputy sheriff to third-in-command as a...

Dr. Matthew Miller is an Air Force veterans and the Director for Suicide Prevention for the U.S. Department of Veterans  Affairs, where he leads a team dedicated to the implementation and reinforcement of  evidence-based community and clinical interventions addressing suicide prevention,  intervention, and postvention for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).   Having previously served as the...

Brooke Cheney is an accidental advocate. She had been around guns all her life but didn't really know anything about them. Once she had children, she decided to learn how to handle firearms safely. Learning how to handle firearms safely led her to competition, which taught her that a 10-round magazine ban is a gun ban.  Her first time testifying - against the 10-round mag ban - was in 2010 in...

In this episode we discuss what it's like for mental health professionals to intervene in mental health crises with alongside law enforcement. Our outstanding guests come from two different programs in two different states, and they outline their experiences beautifully with regard to all the laws and policies that fold into and regulate this effort, including so-called "red flag laws.&q...

Christian Conte, Ph. D., is a psychologist, author, Level 5 Anger Management specialist, former university professor, husband, dad, and creator of Yield Theory, which aims to revolutionize how we communicate with one another. Dr. Conte has spent more than a dozen years helping people who have committed violent crimes and he is currently training the entire Pennsylvania Department of Corrections -...

Brandon Cassinelli is a 5th generation Nevadan and a Reno native.  Hailing from a law enforcement family, he followed his father and two uncles into work at the Reno Police Department beginning in 2007.  Throughout his 14-year career he has occupied numerous roles within the Department, including Tactical Flight Officer in the region’s helicopter response unit, detective with the family and sex cr...

John Petrolino is a United States Merchant Marine Officer, writer, firearms instructor, and author of Decoding Firearms: An Easy to Read Guide on Basic Gun Safety & Use .  He matriculated at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, where he received a BS in Marine Engineering.  John's call to write developed towards the end of high school and he has continued to develop both his style and the scop...

Ed Gardner and Lara Smith of The Liberal Gun Club join Mike and Jake for a conversation about core concepts of Second Amendment rights. The Liberal Gun Club provides a voice to gun owners who do not subscribe to the right-wing rhetoric surrounding firearm ownership by engaging the public on important firearms issues,  allowing liberal and moderate views to be expressed and actively debated.  They...

Andrew Langlois spent many years as a law enforcement officer and is now in graduate school for public health doing research on firearms policy and its effect on preventing negative outcomes. He is a Second Amendment advocate and continues to make leather rifle slings , a hobby he has been doing for many years.  Having traveled the world, Andy has learned many lessons on economics, social policies...

Jason Griego is a retired Air Force C-130 & C-17 Loadmaster with 24 years of service. He flew combat missions in Bosnia, Saudi Arabia, Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan. Jason is the Founder of Vegas Veterans Hockey Foundation and President of Community Outreach.  Jason is on the Board of Directors for Warrior Suicide Prevention Foundation, and is a member of the Las Vegas Mayor’s Veteran Suicide C...

Rob Morse: designer/analyst by day, civil rights advocate by night. He hosts the Self-Defense Gun Stories podcast and co-hosts the Polite Society podcast. He has written for many years about guns and gun safety, with his articles appearing at the SlowFacts blog, Ammoland , and Clash Daily , and is a frequent guest on Gun Freedom Radio .  He enjoys exploring the deeper psychological and sociologica...

Colion Noir is a Houston native, but for the past eight years he has made Dallas his home.  While attending law school, a friend invited him to the local gun range to shoot for the first time.  Being scared of guns, every fiber in his body urged him to decline but he accepted.  That was the day that changed his life and the lives of millions of his followers who have grown with him on Instagram, Y...

Kenyon Gleason is the president and secretary of the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW) , and has been with the organization since 2015.  He is an award-winning journalist and has worked in television, radio, and print newsrooms across the upper Midwest. Gleason has over 25 years of media, communications, marketing, public and government relations, and political experience...

Jose Fierro was a fighter pilot for the US Marine Corps and serves as a WTTA board member. In this episode he explains his passion for helping veterans and preserving gun rights, discusses some really cool technology related to drone capabilities, and explains why he does not have any social media (spoiler alert: it's good for your mental health).  Send us Fan Mail Walk the Talk America would...

Randy “Miyanovich” Miyan is the full-time Executive Director and co-founder of Liberal Guns Owners: a 501(c)4 organization which supports firearms ownership rights, the mitigation of firearms-related violence, and firearms ownership participation for the left-leaning. Randy is a former remodeling and renovation business-operator who worked within the parameters of Green and Eco-sensitive building...