Guns and Mental Health by Walk the Talk America

Episode 67: Rafael Del Valle

Episode 66: CloverTac

Chris Dover is a lifelong gun owner, Second Amendment advocate, children's firearms instructor, and host of his own podcast and YouTube Channel, CloverTac Productions. On his channel, Chris shares firearm education, reviews, interviews, podcasts and a whole lot more. He is a proud member of the Firearms Radio Network, Professional Outdoor Media Association, Southeastern Outdoor Press Association and National Shooting Sports Foundation.

Episode 65: Open Arms TV Show

Brian Lockerman is the creator of Open Arms and the president of MB Studio Productions, a full-service production company specializes in all forms of multi-media, television, commercials, music videos, and films.  MB Studio Productions has produced various commercials, pilots, reels, and reality based programs.   Today, Open Arms is the successor to “Shoot To Thrill” that he also created.  Brian is a passionate firearms owner and a gun-collector over the years, and has a strong belief and r...

Episode 64: Trey Miller

Trey Miller is a Marine Corps veteran who started Ghost Tactical Productions in 2017. He’s a 2A advocate who preaches on concealed carry, self-reliance, and all aspects of firearms training. Ghost Tactical is not just a home base for Trey’s podcast network- there are thorough product reviews, written columns, and much more. Trey is the host of a live podcast “The Armed Citizen Podcast” where he and his guests talk everything gun culture. It is a part of the Self Defense Radio Network. He als...

Episode 63: Nathan Jones

Nathan Jones is president of the Bay Area Black Gun Owners Association. An unwitting leader, he saw a need in his community and seized on it.  The Bay Area chapter of the Black Gun Owners Association  is a gun rights advocacy group assisting law abiding citizens of the Bay Area in becoming safe and effective firearms owners. They partner with certified firearms instructors to provide a wide variety of firearms training courses, member range days, and community service events. 

Episode 62: Anthony Anderson

Anthony Anderson is an Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran and small business owner. After his military service, Anthony worked with Veterans struggling to successfully reintegrate after their service ended. In 2013, he and a fellow Veteran walked across the United States in an effort to heal themselves and raise awareness to the host of issues impacting Veterans and their families. Their walk and work is featured in the award winning documentary, Almost Sunrise, in which they reveal and detai...

Episode 61: Sandy Richardson (Part II)

Sandy Richardson, a victim of the New York SAFE Act, is back to update us on her absurd and blood-boiling experience with getting falsely reported and having her rights restricted. She has since pursued multiple Freedom of Information Law requests and obtained overwhelming information that suggests the NY SAFE Act not only doesn't help people, but it actually keeps hundreds of thousands from seeking care.  Please share this episode as widely as you can, and particularly with healthcare work...

Episode 60: Rob Pincus & GunPRO

For more than two decades Rob Pincus has taught all aspects of firearms across the globe. Since 2018 he has served as a board member for Walk the Talk America and in 2022 he launched GunPRO, a Pledge of Responsible Ownership, to invite firearms owners to take an affirmative step toward even more mindfulness regarding their involvment with the guns that they own.  This is his pitch to gun owners to engage in this totally voluntary and competely decentralized accountability mechanism with the...

Episode 59: Isaac Richey

Isaac is a former infantryman in the US Army and, due to seeking help at the right time when he needed it, is now no longer allowed to own firearms. But the story gets nuttier: after discharge from the hospital and completing his care, he was returned to duty and used all kinds of firearms for quite a while longer while working for the Army. Yet now, as a civilian, he has had his career opportunities limited, all because of an activist hospital staffer in New York.  Born and raised in Ore...

Episode 58: Brandon Covey

Brandon Covey is a licensed mental health counselor, professional musician, and avid shooter.   In his counseling work, Brandon specializes in dealing with anxiety and depressive disorders, as well as helping his clients find meaning and purpose through life's most challenging circumstances.  Brandon takes a cognitive behavioral approach to correct negative thinking patterns, combined with reality and existential therapies to promote sound choices and decision making.  Brandon believes heali...

Episode 57: John McClain

John McClain is a member of Team Armscor as a Pistol/MultiGun Competitor. He also worked 8 years in Las Vegas as an EMT responding to all kinds of 911 calls. He credits firearms, and the 2A community for being one of the main reasons why he was able to fight though one of the darkest times in his life. In this episode he offers insight into what he witnessed and experienced in the world of medicine and discusses some of the issues that we all are facing in the battle for those that need/wa...

Episode 56: Locked & Loaded Latinos

Rolo and Jo are a husband-and-wife team working to expand and normalize the fiream and freedom movements through education, entertainment, and exposure After Florida's Republican-led government enacted gun control laws in 2018, they knew they needed to become advocates for their rights and the Locked & Loaded Latinos came to fruition. Each week on their live podcast they discuss topics from the 2nd Amendment advocacy, politics, pop culture, gaming, current events, and also have bilingual di...

Episode 55: Sharyn Hinchcliffe

Sharyn works in IT by day, but by night she is a civil rights advocate, mental health proponent, and fits neatly in no boxes of any kind.  Prepare to have your worldview expanded. IG: s.a.hinchcliffe Twitter: @sacrebleu141

Episode 54: Kevin Berry

Kevin Berry joins the Guns and Mental Health Podcast to discuss how social media is affecting our mental health. We also discuss how firearm content and individuals working in the industry are purposely suppressed on social media. Kevin is a father of one and husband who enjoys getting outdoors and sports. He has been working in marketing for over seven years and started his small marketing agency in 2018 to help smaller businesses. He works in multiple areas, including advertising, brandi...

Episode 53: David Yamane

David Yamane is Professor of Sociology at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. For the first 20 years of his academic career, he specialized in the sociology of religion, a field in which he authored, co-authored, or edited 6 books and 2 major scholarly journals. Since 2011, Professor Yamane has studied guns, especially the new self-defense oriented core of American gun culture that Michael Bane calls Gun Culture 2.0. Among his publications in this area is a short history...

Episode 52: Tony Simon

Tony Simon is United States Marine Corps veteran, certified firearms instructor and certified range safety officer. He founded and hosts  the 2nd is For Everyone: Diversity Shoot and the 2nd is For Everyone podcast.  The 2nd is for Everyone is dedicated to welcoming people of all races, religions, genders, sexual orientation and backgrounds into the firearms community, educating them on their civil rights and on the human right of self defense while introducing them to 2A advocacy organizat...

Episode 51: Samantha Mann

Samantha is a practicing psychologist and professional counselor in West Virginia who actively writes for the NRA, along with being a certified firearms instructor. Living in both worlds gives her a unique perspective on both cultures and in this episode, she discusses the role and evolution of women in the gun community, the concept of "gun bunnies," and of course, mental health. For those who are curious about how clinical practitioners handle suicidal firearms owners, this episode should...

Episode 50: Cam Edwards

Cam Edwards is the editor of BearingArms.com and the host of the long-running 2A show Cam & Co.  A husband and father of five, Cam grew up in a gun-free household before purchasing his first firearm for self-defense and defense of his family after he became a husband and insta-dad to two stepchildren almost 25 years ago. Since then, he's become passionate about ensuring access to the right to keep and bear arms, as well as making sure that gun owners have the tools they need to be safe and r...

Episode 49: Dylan Sessler

Dylan Sessler is an author, mental health advocate, speaker, and US Army Veteran.  He survived parental suicide, PTSD, child abuse, bullying, war, life-changing injuries along with depression and anxiety.  At one point Dylan was going to take his own life but (literally) wound up not pulling the trigger. Today he coaches others into better lifestyle choices and creates inspirational content for social media, YouTube, and also has his own podcast. With more than half a million subscribers on...

Episode 48: Jesse Bugarin

Jesse Bugarin was raised in the Los Angeles area where homeowners owned guns for security reasons with little access or knowledge of safes to lock up their firearms. He joined Cannon Security Products in 1989. During this time the company was small in volume and consumer reach. Jesse realized early on that safes were a necessary item for every home in America, which led to adopting “A SAFE IN EVERY HOME” as the company BHAG or, "Big Hairy Audacious Goal."  The growth and success of the com...

Episode 47: Ashley Hlebinsky

What is Bipolar II Disorder and what does it have to do with this podcast? For the past 15 years, Ashley Hlebinsky has been immersed in the study of firearms history, technology, and culture becoming one of the nation’s foremost authorities on the subject. Hlebinsky has researched and worked in several nationally recognized firearms and weapons collections, including the Smithsonian Institution’s National Firearms Collection and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s Cody Firearms Museum. Fo...

Episode 46: Deborah Alexander

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 of tears and hope, confusion and inspiration. She shares her story with us in an effort to improve ...

Episode 45: Sherry Molock

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 across the United States.  When she began her involvement she lacked any knowledge of guns whatso...

Episode 44: Mychael Waller

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 defense, some insights on entrepreneurship, his strength in spiritual faith, his journey through co...

Episode 43: Sandy Richardson

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 is her story. 

Episode 42: Chris Cheng

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.  

Episode 41: Tom Nguyen

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 throughout Los Angeles and Orange County. As a refugee who fled a war, Tom understands that guns can ...

Episode 40: Erin Yeung

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 fields. You can't help others unless you help yourself first!  Erin also serves on the board of directors of the Ne...

Episode 39: Kim Petters

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 heard among elected officials. 

Episode 38: Jimmy Graham

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 with civilians and professionals alike to improve their knowledge, understanding, and preparatio...

Episode 37: Gianni Pirelli

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. Pirelli has experience in numerous clinical and clinical-forensic settings, many of which have included psychia...

Episode 36: Darin Balaam

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 an Assistant Sheriff. His experience encompasses all three bureaus: Operations, Detention and Ad...

Episode 35: Matt Miller

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 Director of the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL), under his  leadership VCL became the world’s larges...

Episode 34: Brooke Cheney

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 front of the Connecticut legislature.  On December 12th 2012, the Sandy Hook tragedy happened, and ...

Episode 33: Christy Butler and Ryan Hale

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." Ryan has been a mental health co responder with the Estes Park, CO Police Department for two and a half ...

Episode 32: Christian Conte

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 - including staff and inmates - in Yield Theory. In this interview he discusses violence, emotion...

Episode 31: Brandon Cassinelli

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 crimes divisions, and downtown enforcement officer focusing on bicycle patrol for focus directed i...

Episode 30: John Petrolino

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 scope of content he covers. His exposure to the shooting world occurred when he was a youth, learning the fun...

Episode 29: The Liberal Gun Club

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 encourage well thought out and reasoned positions and discourage personal attacks and emotiona...

Episode 28: Andrew Langlois

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, policing, and mental health treatment that inform his interactions with the world. We are plea...

Episode 27: Jason Griego

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 Challenge Team. He is also a USA Hockey Level 4 certified coach with handicapped and sled hockey cer...

Episode 26: Rob Morse

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 sociological concepts and motivations behind human behavior, including mental illness and social interaction...

Episode 25: Colion Noir

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, YouTube and Facebook.  His trademark has become the use of unique and colorful prose in his firea...

Episode 24: Kenyon Gleason

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 in a variety of industries including healthcare, education, transportation, agriculture, and sho...

Episode 23: Jose Fierro

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). 

Episode 22: Randy Miyan

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 projects for 17 years. He has a substantial connection to the world of mental and physical heal...

Episode 21: Eddie Davenport

Eddie is a social worker out of North Carolina who grew up in the firearm competition world and holds multiple national shootings titles. As such, he believes that he is uniquely positioned to help bridge the gap between the mental health and the firearms communities. Eddie also has a background as a first responder and is open about his past struggles with PTSD, as well as the struggles between being pro-second amendment within the mental health world.  He is a proud supporter of WTTA and ...

Episode 20: Aaargo Jay

If you ask him, he'd tell you that he is just a guy.  However, spend a few minutes with him and you will soon find out that he is all of the aforementioned. His passion for advocacy is directly related to the love he has for his family. Making sure the world is a safe place for them to live their lives is paramount for Aaargo Jay.  Find out more on his website or follow him on all the usual social media platforms.

Episode 19: Dr. Shauna Springer

Shauna "Doc" Springer is a psychologist who has worked for a long time with veterans on their posttraumatic stress and has written extensively about the subject, including in her book, Warrior:  How to Support Those Who Protect Us . In this encouraging conversation she covers a lot of ground, but chiefly an emerging practice that alleviates PTSD (or, more accurately, PTSI) with a simple anesthetic injection and some outpatient talk therapy.  

Episode 19: Shauna Springer

Shauna "Doc" Springer is a psychologist who has worked for a long time with veterans on their posttraumatic stress and has written extensively about the subject, including in her book, Warrior:  How to Support Those Who Protect Us . In this encouraging conversation she covers a lot of ground, but chiefly an emerging practice that alleviates PTSD (or, more accurately, PTSI) with a simple anesthetic injection and some outpatient talk therapy.