Guns and Mental Health by Walk the Talk America

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 respect for the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the 2nd Amendment.  His professionalism in front and behind the camera with Open Arms is safety-first with respect to actors and crew handling firearms.  Brian’s enthusiasm and charismatic likeability was highly noticed, back in the day, as a talented rock drummer who has since traded-in his quick-handed sticks for his first love weaponry; his increasing knowledge, experience, and passion over the years, and now as a skilled producer with Open Arms.  He is eager to show Americans today that responsible people can enjoy gun ownership for sport and personal protection with confidence. His inspirational message is simple and true: Safety, Family and The 2nd Amendment.

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 also hosts “The Jarhead Podcast”, a part of the Veteran Podcast Network and Military Podcast Network, where he and his guests talk all things military and being prepared for civilian life after service.Trey also prides himself on working with local and State politicians to improve quality of life and benefits for Active Duty military, veterans, and their families.  He continues to push politicians to increase coverage and available resources to help with homelessness, injury care, and mental health rehabilitation for our warriors. Trey has and currently serves on many Boards of Directors and Task Forces for organizations to help provide services needed by our military community.

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. 

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 detail the concept of moral injury. As co-founder of LiT Beard Company, Anthony supports Veterans and their families with charitable donations from each sale.

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 workers.

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 their friends and colleagues. This is the gun community "doing something" to curb unnecessary negative outcomes with firearms and Walk the Talk America is proud to support the effort.

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 Oregon and grew up shooting, hiking, fishing and all other sorts of outdoorsy stuff, he is pursing a cybersecurity degree in Texas. He has long-term goals of working in federal cyber security/federal law enforcement, as he believes that would be the best way to use his skills to help people. This is his testimony.

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 healing and resilience can be found by anyone with desire, an open mind, and a willingness to learn.  Outside of counseling, Brandon works as a freelance bassist in various settings; church, rock bands, recording sessions, etc.  In addition to playing professionally, Brandon has a passion for composing his own music; finding personal meaning in turning his personal struggles into art that can be appreciated by others.    

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/want help when it comes to mental health. Also, he feels "elevator sexy" after listening to our intro music.Thank you to our Platinum sponsors, Armscor and Ruger, for their incredible support.

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 discussions about our rights and Founding Documents.Find Rolo and Jo on YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter, as well as wherever podcasts are found.

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.hinchcliffeTwitter: @sacrebleu141

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, branding, digital marketing, and website design. Kevin is passionate about educating people about marketing and social media. Follow Kevin on Twitter or LinkedIn

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 of concealed carry in the U.S., Concealed Carry Revolution: Liberalizing the Right to Bear Arms in America, and a review essay on “The Sociology of US Gun Culture.”As he continues to work on a book combining his personal experiences and sociological observations of Gun Culture 2.0, Professor Yamane shares his thoughts on two blogs, gunculture2point0.com and guncurious.com, and on Twitter at @davidyamane and @gunculture2pt0. In 2022, he launched a YouTube channel, “Light Over Heat with Professor David Yamane,” on which he posts weekly short videos about issues related to his scholarship.

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 organizations.

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 help shed some light on the often-misunderstood process.

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 responsible. 

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 TikTok, Dylan has re-engineered his life into one of meaning, purpose, and encouragement.  

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 awareness related to mental illness, firearms, and suicide. Her book, The Private Life of Big Frank: Bodyguard to the Greatest of Gangster Rap is available for purchase on Amazon. 

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 whatsoever and has grown to understand the reasons that people own guns and advocate to protect that right. Her work in multiple arenas to bridge the gap between seemingly divergent and incompatible viewpoints and cultures contributes mightily to the conversation about guns and mental health. We hope you find this conversation as enjoyable as we did. 

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 counseling after the shooting, and what he plans to do in the future to help gun owners prepare better.  He believes his story can inspire responsible gun owners to avoid falling victim to gun violence.