Preparing for Suicide Prevention Lobby Day Here in CT

All right. So welcome replay viewers, because you know, y'all are the only ones who see the beginning. No makeup, no lighting, nothing. I am getting ready for the State Capitol Days. And the reason I'm looking over here is because on my screen, it's playing from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. So why am I here? Well, because I've on and off been spending most of my time today getting ready for— hey, Moo! Hi, DJ. I've been getting ready for the State Capitol Day that the American Foundation for Seizure Prevention puts on. And here in Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut, to be specific, it is tomorrow, March 19th. Hello, Vanessa Beauty. So, uh, I've got a lot of stuff. I've got a lot of things to, uh, hand out for people. So what does going to the Capitol mean? Well, for everybody it's something different. For me, I have been doing this since 2011, so I'm going on my decade and a half of doing this. The first time I went, I'm like reading a piece of paper, I'm like, I'm just a mom, I don't know what I'm doing here, that sort of stuff. And honestly, as much as nerves were there, people are really encouraging to let you step up and get out of your comfort zone and applaud you for showing up. And here's the best part that a lot of people I don't think get is that as long as you're polite and kind, They're polite and kind to you whether they agree with you or not. Now, are there some people that will sneer at me just because I'm a gun girl? Yes, yes, there are. Um, but for the most part, I've not had to deal with them. Or, well, I have to deal with them, but I just let it roll off my back like a duck, right? We're like— you— I hope you all know what I'm talking about. You know, water-resistant animals, ducks, geese, all of that. The water just rolls off their back because of their coats, of their feathers, the oil on their feather to be more specific. So let's start at the beginning. How did I get invited to a breakfast at the Capitol in the first place? I went to— I've, I've been following, been part of American Foundation for Souterrain Frenchie because of the NSSF, which is right here. I don't know if y'all can see that. So the NSSF, which is our— the firearms— what's to say— firearm industry trade association, National Shooting Sports Foundation. Ever since I was an instructor, I opened my own range, so I became a member of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. And because I don't know how I found this, but on their website, if you have anything to do with firearms, you can get this stuff sent to you for free if you're an NSSF member. And they have this, and on the back there's resources. For those of you who follow me on a regular basis, which most of you that are here do, and those of you who don't, go ahead and hit, hit the like and follow button on all of that. Hey, Mike White, glad to get you. I seem to get you right off of work often. So visit a primary care provider, mental health professionals, walk-in clinics, Find a mental healthcare provider, uh, National Suicide Prevention Hotline, all of these things. So this is just one page of this lovely pamphlet. So what am I bringing in? I am bringing in a bunch of these and I'm gonna have them to hand out. Now I have put my marketing and logo stuff on the back. So they have a local person here in Connecticut that they can reach out to. So this is one of the things I'll be handing out tomorrow. I'm gonna have a bag of stuff. Other thing, Mike Cedini and Walk the Talk America, wtta.org/love. I had him send me some of these wristbands, and so I'm gonna have these guys. My plan is I have 10 of them here that I've unwrapped, and my goal is tomorrow I'm gonna stick all of these suckers on my arms. I'm not doing it tonight because I'm only going to do this once.. And the idea is throughout the day I want to take them off. So by the end of the day I have none because I have more at home. But my goal is to send these out to everybody or, you know, hand these out to everybody because the walkthetalkamerica.org/love is where all the free stuff is. And when we're talking about mental health and helping people out, we definitely want them to find the free stuff. So I'm going to be handing these out to people who seem interested. What else? Because I registered for the breakfast, they gave me a, what is this called? It didn't have my picture on it. It was just a template. And they asked for a thing. This is going to go on the wall in the legislative lobby. I don't know where exactly, but the instructions are fill this out and then hand it in. So it said they wanted 75 words or less, and 75 words is not a lot. Um, so what does mine say? As a person who was suicidal as a teen, I understand the feeling of thinking the world would be better off without me. I understand that feeling of overwhelm and hopelessness. I'm an advocate because we need to get more help for people more options for people when they are in crisis. As a gun owner, I also know when someone is in crisis, they need help and options that are not punitive. I'm like, ooh. So this is the one of a kind. This one's going to go on the wall. And that's the 75 words because they asked for 75 words, so I gave them 75 words. Then, oh, and DJ, I apologize, but you are not going to have the— I will send you the link for this. And I don't know if there's any— I doubt that's gonna— I don't know, y'all, if you want to— ooh, is it gonna— I'm not gonna get it to— all right, so if y'all like the BearingArms.com, John Petrolino put this up on the 16th, and this taught— this, this, uh, this article talks about a consortium of grassroots to a meet to amplify their messages on mental health and guns. So John was kind enough to take the time and effort to make this into a printable thing, because, you know, printing stuff off the web is just near impossible. And he gave us a QR code so that I only have one of these copies, so that I can think, oh, I've only got one of these, scan the QR code. And what I did get a whole bunch of was I printed out like 25 copies of the final page, which has— I'm gonna read it to you. And DJ, you're not gonna be able to hear, but it's okay. I appreciate you. Um, good job. Um, so anyone who's just wondering what I'm talking to, if you're here reading the, uh, chat, DJ's dropping links because that's what DJ does. And he's writing down stuff as I'm saying, oh, he found it. Well, he found the Bearing Arms, John Petrolino. So on the last page are the partners involved. Oh, actually, no, I'm sorry. All you have to do to see this list is look at the description of this video because I cut and paste all of these so you would have them. So fun stuff, trying to give them more resources. And plus, when I hand out the list of all the different gun people that are doing things on mental health, they can scan the QR code if they're interested in learning more. And yes, they would have to actually type those things in because obviously you can't hyperlink paper. So as it would happen, like I said, this just came out. Thanks to John for making it pretty for me, or sorry, as he said, sleek. So hey, Crabby Turtle, my favorite pink hand waving. Yeah. The advantage of actually going live only on Facebook is two things. One, I can't play with any of the controls because I don't know how. And two, I actually see the pink hand waving versus dot dot. All right, what else am I bringing? Walk the Talk America. So what I did is, uh, Mike Sedini sent me a whole bunch of things. And, you know, walkthetalk.org/love, where all the free stuff is. I figured this is what I wanted to be the forefront of this because, um, if we start talking about this, I get to give out one of these and we're, we're getting stuff done. In here there is more information like bridging the gap between mental health and firearm ownerships. I am imagining that tomorrow I am going to be talking to people who've never heard of Walk the Talk America, but I bet you there's going to be some mental health people there. So again, I only have one of these, but my goal is to get people to reach out to me and, or to say, oh, I just need your email so I can send this to them. And it has all of this stuff that— so mental health, um, about their training, the Kids to Kings, about talking with children. And then the last page I put in here was the story. Sorry, this is like backwards. Like, I'm trying, guys, I'm trying. Now that you can read any of this, but just to give you an idea of what I've been putting together for tomorrow. So I'm gonna walk in the door and I'm gonna hand them this. This is gonna go on the wall somewhere. Then all of these things are attached ever so neatly to my handy dandy files. Oh, it's a book. And you know what? On the back, I've got some stickers, right? So these stickers are inside the book. I also have— ready for this— I have more stickers. So like, if someone wants to give me their information, I got Post-it notes, and I can give them a rainbow or something along those lines. I have a different handout for them that is this, because this one I printed out for myself to hand out. So it's a little bit different. So that, um, oh, what I want to say. So it's only slightly different. Ready? So you heard the first part, as a person suicidal teen, I'm an advocate because I need to get more help for people, more options for people when they are crisis, and help them avoid crisis in the first place. As a gun owner, I know that when someone's in crisis, they need help and options that aren't punitive. I am the host of Suicide Prevention Saturday at 9 PM on Saturday nights since 2018 on social media channels, Facebook and YouTube. Contact information is available on my website. So this is the one I'm gonna hand out. So because this is more than 75 words, so I have about 25 of those and I have no idea A, if I'm gonna go through any of these, or B, you know, what's gonna happen in general. Um, the other thing I have is that NSSF pamphlet that I showed you. And again, I've got my stuff on the back, but due to the fact this is an American Foundation for Suicide Prevention deal, I figure this is the sort of thing they should definitely be getting. Uh, this is that article that DJ found for me. Um, from Mike Sardini about the Consortium of Grassroots People. So I, I'm— I have a couple extra things that I can show, um, in that I, I printed some by accident. So there's like 4 copies of that. For the majority of it though, it is all about them scanning a QR code, right, this way, and just getting hooked up. So they get to see that. I have a couple little, uh, folders or postcards that, you know, just the whole idea that mental health, it's okay to talk about it, like to show them that we're not some Neanderthals. I have more stickers because everyone should get a sticker because it's fun to give out stickers. And I'm really confident we're all going to have name tags because it says when you stop and hand in your, your thing, you're going to get a name tag. So my goal is to bring a smile to everyone. So that's DJ, because DJ always likes making people smile. And it's also Hillbilly Up, because, you know, make someone's day better. And whose day is not better if they don't get a sparkly sticker? I am pretty sure they will be better. And then, oops, my last one is also DC Project, aka Women for Gun Rights, um, because down here in the corner It says education, not legislation. And this has a whole bunch of other stuff on here, but I have a bunch of these, so I just grabbed a handful because I think— yeah, stickers do rule, DJ, you're right. Um, I think that the more information they have about all the things that we as gun people do— and let's be real, we as humans, right, we, we miss the importance of that connection that you and I have a heartbeat, we have red blood in our bodies, no matter what color your skin is or anything else that's going on. Hey, Brooke. I mean, hey, Brooke. Wow. Hi, Tara. Jason Go said hi, Brooke, and I just read that. So it's been one of those days. I'm not sure I've got all of my words in order. And so here's the other part of this, right? Imperfect action. Could I have something cooler and more exciting than this? Yeah, maybe, kind of. Is this not bad for— well, I just happen to have a lot of this stuff laying around. Yeah, that's also pretty good. So I am blessed by having things on hand that were here beforehand, and, um, I'm blessed that like NSSF sends you stuff for free. So that is also a great thing. Oh, Oh, but wait, there's more. It's like ShamWow commercial. Hold on, because the other thing I will be giving out are pens. Um, again, sort of like the sparkly stickers, they are sparkly and shiny and they've got my information on them. So way more fun than a business card. I'm— yeah, um, sorry, I'm gonna see now. Now that Tara's here, I'm like, oh, what'd she say? Uh, she's tired and loading early for Georgia. So, um, sparkly and pretty. And here's the thing, part of the reason I do all of this is simply for the fact that so many people expect gun people to be old white grumpy dudes in camouflage with shotguns, and they never see me coming. I have no idea what I'm wearing tomorrow. Um, something comfy that works well with crutches. That's all I know for sure. Because, uh, yeah, on a side note, I'm having a lovely thing called bursitis. And when I say lovely, that's as much sarcasm as I can possibly, uh, garner, because it is not lovely in any way, shape, or form. So, um, that's kind of it. So here's the deal. Tomorrow morning, 9:00 AM till 11:00 AM is the event, and we're going to be at the Capitol building. And it says, uh, when you arrive, please check in at the information table where I, along with Ann Daigle and Allison Adieu, will give you a packet, name tag, and a quick overview of the event. See, I did know we're going to get name tags. So those, uh, yeah, I hate crutches too. Sorry. So we're all getting name tags and I will have sparkly faces on mine. So people ask, where did you get them? And then I can hand them out. That's my plan. See, I'm thinking of these things. We're honored to partner to bring together passionate volunteers to meet our legislators and advocate for state policy changes that will improve mental health and prevent suicide. Thank you for taking part. Ta-da! So that is that. That is my day tomorrow. I will look a little more put together than this theoretically by tomorrow. We will see. Oh wait, can I, can I drop stuff in here? Hold on. Oh no, that's not there. Okay, I was gonna like drop the, the actual link to this article, but apparently not. Okay, all right, I'm gonna close all those things so I can pay attention to you guys. Thank you, Mike. I do hope that it There's something for everybody, right? Because, you know, some people love these things, and the idea that I'm going to give them something that gives them an instantaneous free resource, right? So not only is it fun to play with and say, oh yes, I'm here for suicide prevention, but it introduces them to something they've probably never heard about, which is Walk the Talk America, right? Um, sparkly pens. Who doesn't love a sparkly pen? Weirdos, that's who doesn't like a sparkly pen. And DJ has one of these. I gave it to him live and in person in Vegas. So I believe I have a nice packet here to go off to the Capitol with tomorrow. I do, of course, uh, for those of you who are on YouTube— well, obviously we're all on YouTube, uh, but when I'm done, go ahead over to the social thingy, community, the community tab. And I put a, hey, what are your 75 words? Because I may not get a chance to print any of that off. However, yes, bling. If you write a couple things, then tomorrow as I'm walking around the building and showing people, oh yeah, just go on my YouTube channel and look at my post. And DJ and Crabby and Mike White and Tara, not that Tara needs sleep or anything today. Um, who am I missing? DJ, um, Moo and Moo, like, you guys go— oh, Vanessa Kitty, can't forget Vanessa Kitty. Um, go over there. And like, Vanessa, you're important because you're here in Connecticut, so you're even more important. So, um, go over to that post on the community tab and just write down why are you an advocate, why do you think suicide prevention is so important, especially among just Americans in general. I mean, one of the things that kills me is like, gun owners are not any different than everybody else. And unfortunately we get put into this pigeonhole of, oh, well, you don't care about lives because you still choose to have your guns. I'm like, okay, but the actual problem is suicide. The actual problem is people hurting themselves and getting to that place where they feel horrible enough to take their own lives. And I'm sure there'll be some veteran— what do you call that— veteran advocates, because sadly, as we know, of the 64 or so suicides a day that occur here in America, roughly 20-ish of those are veterans. So they— it's, it's, it's weird how there's like a third and a third and third. In that of the 30,000 gun deaths in America, two-thirds of that are suicides. And then with the general population, one-third of that are our veterans. And yeah, so crabby turtle, the reason I didn't say 22 is because as far as I knew, we're actually making a little bit of progress on that and it's down to like 21 or 20. Last I heard. But again, zero is aiming for zero. Oh, that's one that's not here. Okay, I have enough. But aiming for zero is the ultimate goal. 20, 21, 22, none of that actually matters because one is too many, as my friend Chris Tessier said many years ago. And that really stuck in my head. So because he did this thing where we're at a match, we've got what 200 people, 250 people at the match, and he asked 22 veterans to come and stand up in front of the group. And he's like, by this time tomorrow, that's how many veteran lives will be lost. So, um, that is— makes me cry because it's very sad. So anywho, that is what I came on to talk to you all about because I'm excited, nervous, happy, Maybe I'll come on and let y'all know what happened. Oh, thank you, DJ. He read my mind. I'm like, could I ask DJ to put Aiming for Zero over there? So Aiming— okay, so like DJ put, it is actually ActiveHeroes.org. Aiming for Zero is what the competitive side of people do because we have competitions called Aiming for Zero. Active Heroes does a lot of different things, helping veterans directly and that sort of All right, I think I said all right like 5 times, but just like with that SHOT Show, for real this time I'm gonna go. Thank you all for popping on real quick. Do please go to the community tab and see if you can answer my question as far as like, why are you an advocate? What, what makes it important to you? 75 words or less so people can actually read them. Um, and I think that's kind of it., and it has the original one that's going to go up on the wall when you read the community tab. All right, ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate your time and your attention, and maybe I'll pop on tomorrow night. If not, I will try to pop on tomorrow. It's a crazy busy day, but one isn't a crazy busy day. All right, good night everybody. Oh, I have to hit end twice. Of course I do.