September is Suicide Awareness Month

Hi everyone, it's Suicide Prevention Saturday, and why are we here? Well, according to the title or post or whatever I put down there, it is September right now, which is Suicide Prevention Month. And how do I know that? Well, because the National Shooting Sports Foundation just sent me a boatload of these firearms and suicide prevention thingies. In here, National Shooting Sports Foundation and the American for Suicide Prevention. We'll take what we can get. Hand these out to gun shops, gun ranges, and all of that for free if you are a member of NSSF. And someone like me who's little and tiny, they still think of me and they still send stuff to me. Now my job is to get it out to people who come through my doors, people who want to learn about guns. As you guys all know, it's Suicide Prevention Saturday. Why are we here? Because to of every 3 gun deaths you hear about are suicides. So with that, it's your job and my job to help people learn stuff about this. Why some people are more at risk for suicide than others, firearm storage for your lifestyle, and what else? There's more in here. What leads to suicide? More of that. Resources, which we do try to give you here on A Great Start Shooting School. Um, so who's our friends on Saturday?

Yes.

Hi everybody. Okay. So we're gonna talk about this a little bit more, but for those of you who are first into the room, which I think, who the heck was it? Crabby Turtle was our very first person. I don't even know. Yes. Crabby Turtle at 6:51. Like a few moments after, um, I think I put the link up because I've been in a match all day. And for you guys tonight, I came home, I played with some pictures, and because I was in a match all day and it is Suicide Prevention Saturday, I just want to let you know that the match I was at was a veteran charity match And here in Connecticut, I live in the northwest corner of Connecticut. And for all of you who are in all those big states, for you it's probably about the size of a county. But, um, they raise money for the veterans who don't qualify for certain help from the government and that sort of stuff. And so we raised money for that with, um, and some stuff of— some of my stuff went out with them as far as raffle prizes, that sort of thing. But I just threw together a couple pictures from the match today and it turned into an ad, but I just want to share with you guys because, you know, it's Saturday night for me. It's dark out. I got scared coming down the office because it was dark out and I hear large animals in the woods. I yelled at them. I told them to go away. It's the mom voice. Makes large animals run away. I'm sure it was just deer, but you know, things that are large in the dark is always scary. So I did want to show you a couple things, and Mike Ballinger is out there in the crowd today, and I also want to show you his stuff. So we could possibly run a little long today, but it is the first Saturday of Suicide Prevention Saturday in September, Awareness Month. Yeah, words. So I'm going to play this real quick for you. I I think if I get this a little bigger. So anyway, I just want to show you because that was parts and pieces of my day. I love the chicken shirt with the rifle. I'm not sure it was there long enough for y'all to see it, but we got to shoot from cars today. We got shooting and moving, we got moving targets, all sorts of fun stuff. And it occurred to me, this is the first match I've shot in almost 2 years. Now, just so we have a relative idea of why that seems so outlandish to me, so most of my life I never touched a gun, never shot, any of that. And then in 2007, 6 and 7, I had 2 babies. And 2007 was when I realized I needed to learn gun safety and how to handle safely handle a firearm. It wasn't about self-defense, it was always about touching a gun safely without it going off. That was my only goal. So my husband started sending me to the range, and it was for my mental health, to get me away from two babies, but also to give me the confidence I needed to learn how to handle firearms. So that was 2008, I think 2009, maybe 2008 or 2009, I was asked to be on a team. And so I got on the bullseye team and I shot a couple matches and my name went in the NRA book as an NRA marksman or something. I don't even know, but I'm in the NRA book somewhere for those years. And then I got into competition shooting. When I say I got in, I'm going to say my husband and I dove headfirst into the deep end and we were doing 1 to 2 matches every week. 2011, we became safety officers for this sport called IDPA, and we're doing 1 to 2 matches every single week, and we're going to every major match in the New England area, Pennsylvania area, all of that. So to go from that, and then I opened my school, and then my competition kind of dwindled down even though I was a sponsored competitive shooter, and then to realize that today— the reason I want to share that little quick tip thingy, not tip even, um, that, that little video is just like, I used to do that all the time. So balance, fun, and excitement here to remind us that, you know, there are things that we enjoy, that we like to do, that we need to make sure we do more often. So thinking, speaking of things we like to enjoy, the next thing I want to share with you guys is this one because Mr. Bell— I asked Mr. Ballinger if I could share a picture of his puppy, and I wish it would just go full screen. It doesn't allow me to just pick that. So there's the puppy, and, um, her name is Aubrey. Aubrey is going to get taught how to search for lost animals because that is one of Mr. Ballinger's favorite things in the world to do, is help rescue lost critters. So that is going to be Aubrey's, uh, job. And so it's very exciting. Not only do they have a pet and a new family member, but it's also got a purpose. Um, it's something that Mike absolutely loves to do, and it's just very cool. So welcome to Aubrey, because Ta-da! If you can dream it, which I know Mike does— he believed that he could do more and make more of a big impact, so he created his own reality to achieve the ability to rescue more critters. And all of us can do the same thing. We all have dreams, we all have ideas, we all have things we think we want to do. We want to change the world, we want to make it better for ourselves, for our children, for our families, for our friends. Most of us believe there isn't a way, but we can't always find our way, and sometimes we create our own ways. And then we achieve stuff. We actually really do make a difference in the world, and I think sometimes we forget to tell ourselves or allow ourselves to realize that we can actually do these things. So with this month, the reason I want you to think about dream, believe, create, and achieve is because we want to raise as much awareness around firearms and suicide prevention as we can in September and all year round. But because this is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, I figure I want you guys to tell me how you can make a difference or give me more ideas on how else we can make a difference. Because my grandma— I know you guys have been with me for a while,, back in the '70s, was one of the very first Amway people ever. And in our living room, there was a big old notepad on an easel, and there was a circle and it said "you," and then there'd be two little legs off there and it said "them," and there'd be two more legs off there and that would say "them." And the idea was each one reach one. And then what the whole thing was showing was that just with one person, if I reach out to two people, that's now three of us who are educated. Now, if those two people reach out to two more people, now we've got seven whole people who are educated. And then if those two people, six people, reach out to two more people, you know, I'm not good at math, so I'm not even gonna do the math. But this is why I'm asking you guys tonight to tell me what you can do or what you believe you've already done, possibly. It can be something simple, it can be something easy, and something that maybe we didn't think about. Because you— I've been having a lot of conversations about common sense because I don't believe in common sense, simply for the fact you and I have some things in common, but common sense— you and I will solve the exact same problem differently. And that's what makes it great, is because your idea plus my idea gives us a third better idea as long as we can talk about what we want to do and how we want to do it. Exponential growth. Yes, that's the easy way to do the math. Without a doubt, that is the whole point of that for sure. And Mr. DJ, sir, would you like everybody in?

Absolutely. You're right about Crabby Turtle being the first one in the room. Usually is, isn't he? That pink hand waving was waving at us again today. Gear website's also in the room. So Buck the Tactical Foot, he's out there. Hey man, and Mike Bellinger, I'm glad you were allowed— you allowed us to share those photos, and Aubrey is beautiful, and I'm glad that you're able to get that training started. Mark Thomas also in the room, and witticisms in the chat. Got Gizzard Gary joining us, so is Misty Mrs. Wayne. Guns and Barbecue is out there yucking it up and bringing us the laughs. QLive Mew— Moo, I said Mew, but it's actually Moo. He's not a cat, he's a cow. He's out there, so is Gizzard Gary. Uh, let's see. Then Fiona was in the room, then Abigail Sorcha Finnegan joined us, so did Vanessa Kitty. I'm going to look really quickly to see if anybody else has joined us since, and because there are none that I can see, I pass it back to you because that's the roll call.

It totally helps if I unmute myself before you toss it back to me, but that's okay, I'll figure that out eventually. Oh, oh, I see, I see, because like I am trying to— because I know DJ is here catching me because that's what he does. I was not looking at the comments, but no, he started this one for me, Barbecue. So I don't want you to think we're not paying attention. And as much as those look like rats, Barbecue said it's supposed to be squirrels. And because you know me, I go, but see, I had pictures and stuff. I had a presentation for at least the first 5 or 10 minutes. And yes, Mrs. Misty Wayne. Oh yeah, you know what I meant to say. It is an adorable face. She is so adorable. And I closed it so I can't pull it back up. Um, and then, yeah, why the droopy face? Yes, because he's a droopy face dog. So, um, so no matter how small you think you are, you are huge to us. You make a difference. So I know that Mark is specifically talking to me, right? Because like, there's 12 people here, there's 14 people here. Uh, a couple years ago, DJ's like, what do you want to do? And I'm like, double digits, double digits would be really cool. So as soon as we hit 10, I'm all excited about that. But this is the whole point of the exponential growth, and I forget who, um, said the exponential growth. Sorry, it's— I've been up since 5 and running around. I'm fine though. Um, You, all of you, are the same as this though, right? Yeah, I got a show on Saturday nights. Yes, I come and spend time with you guys, uh, 15, 20, 30 minutes once a week since 2018. Who knew? I'm like, someone else do the math on that one because I know you guys are all real good about checking like how many episodes you've had, and I'm like, I want to count that up someday, but No matter how small you think you are, you are huge. You make a huge, huge impact. And I think this is also one of the big things about suicide prevention is that— I've been having so many sidebars. I don't know if people are— I think a lot of us are under stress for all sorts of different reasons, right? Sickness, health, politics, family, jobs, the economy, all of that, right? And it's like talking about people who are suicidal, it's just like, it's hard because you want to have heart and compassion for them. And yet at the same time, if you really talk to someone who is suicidal, kind of the reality of the person who wants to commit suicide often can be— not always, because everyone is different and unique and you can't be in anyone else's head. But it's like, it's very selfish, right? Because they think they're small and they don't think they matter enough to fight through the demons that they are fighting to not take their own lives. And it's like, okay, how do we figure this out? How do we show compassion to one another? Well, the reality of it starts with us. Like, I know I've talked to people, a ton of you guys, about— it's like, yes, as a teen I was suicidal. As a teen, I did not think I was important. Or it's not even I didn't think I was important, it was that I thought if I was gone, I would no longer be in pain. And so if I want to take my life to stop my pain, I then rationalized in my head why everyone else was going to be better off without me, right? And so that was what we call stinking thinking. And we don't want anyone to think that way, but it's just like, here we are many years after my teen years. And again, I'm not doing math. We're going to go with 30, 40 years, because I really, I really am not spectacular with the math. So the, every person that's watching this, every person that hears this, it's like you have a larger impact. We all have a larger impact. On people than we realize. As a matter of fact, when I was 19, I was at home. I'd gotten my very own landline for my room in my house, and I got a phone call, and the person's like, is this Brooke Reynolds? I'm like, yeah. Their telemarketers weren't as big back in the— that would be 1980 '89-ish, and she said, oh, this is so-and-so. I don't know if you remember me from 4th grade or 5th grade. And I'm just like, maybe 6th grade. Um, and I'm like, oh yeah, I remember you. And she's like, I just want to call and tell you I'm sorry. And I'm like, sorry for what? And she's like, I'm sorry that I treated you poorly. And it's like, I was bullied a lot in those years, so I'm like, I kind of— it was like water under the bridge at that point in time. But it's just like, whether it's good or bad, you have impact on someone. And it's sort of weird to think about this, but by getting bullied by that person who then wanted to make herself better, when she was able to call me back and apologize, I was here for that reason too. If that makes any sense or not. See, you guys, I know, ready? Here, Barbecue, I'll just put this up there. There, save you some typing and grabbing things. But, um, yes, all of those things. So we don't know what our purpose is. We don't know how we're serving all the time. We don't know the impact we're making on somebody. Oh, wait a second, Fiona, are you still here? Um, so anyway, oh, I see Fiona. Anyway, Fiona is, uh, gallivanting around the— I don't know where she is actually, but, um, she is being a roadie for Metallica. And so— oh, sorry, this is what happens when I go look for things. I see stuff like this. 19, 10 years ago. Yeah, like I said, I'm not awesome at math, but not exactly. Oh, all right, Mr. DJ. What are— so I know you love these sort of things. Like, what are things that make you go, hmm, when it comes to dream, believe, achieve kind of stuff? Like, what's something you've thought about, you believed in it, and like you achieved it even though you never realized you were going to? What is something that makes you super happy, or you realize in hindsight or something that perhaps it was amazing thing? Wow, how's that for a loaded question for you? You had your Wheaties today, that is the real question.

Oh, and I never listened to your voicemail, by the way, so I'm like, uh, yeah, well, I did, I did have a chorizo burger, if that's a reasonable substitute for Wheaties, and I think that on any day that would be my preference. I was actually thinking about, well, Maybe, you know, I was going to say what is in a name, and my name is on the screen, DJ. And that's an example of something I didn't think when I used to look up to DJs on the radio that I listened to when I was 10, 11, 12 years old, that I would ever someday join their ranks. Because to me, they were incredible. They had the ability to communicate with all these folks, bring the hot new tunes to my ears, and I wanted to be able to do that for others. So When I finally got the opportunity, I didn't think I was going to get that job. I'm 16 years old, for God's sakes. There's no way they're going to give me a spot. And I got my spot, 3 hours on a Sunday. That's what got that portion of my life started. So I was also, while you were, while you were, uh, giving me the lead in here, I was thinking of, there's, there's a song and a line from that song that's in, uh, Rocky Horror Picture Show. And it says, don't dream it, be it. And so it's just basically, to me at least, communicated that there's no reason for you to just be dreaming about something. Go ahead and do it. Any small portion that you can absorb into your expression or into your life that gets you that much closer to the goal, that you're that much closer to fruition. If you take no steps toward it, you're not. So I'd say leave the dream part behind. And start doing, start being whatever the it is. And that'd be pretty cool. Uh, I'm trying to think of like another one real quickly. I guess also like, uh, never thought that I would be on a stage performing, uh, where people would pay money. And they weren't there to see me on those evenings for certain, uh, but that was something I never thought I would do. That was a dream that I had from the time I I was first listening to music of my own. And so did I want to be Gene Simmons playing the bass in front of a whole bunch of people? You know, you wanted the best and you got the best, the hottest band in the world. DJ playing bass? No, it didn't ever happen. But I did get to— after a fashion, I did get to do something like that. And I was really happy to have that opportunity. And I carried a lot of that with me into adulthood, so much that Yeah, I have an avatar that I carry around with me of Gene Simmons. So, you know, since 1975, I had that sort of dream. And though I didn't reach all of those stages and travel to all of those countries, I most certainly did have times where I was looking out at an audience and the guitar was in my hand. And that's pretty powerful stuff. So I guess that's— there you are, Brooke.

All right. I figured with all the talking I had done, there had to be something ruminating in there by now. So to Gene Simmons, I say Jukebox Hero is your last account made me think of. And then the other part is Dream It, Be It is like one of the things that stuck in my head after all of these years of hanging out with Tony Robbins and those type of people. Is it's like we are human beings, not human doings, and we just forget that from time to time, it would seem. And we do lots of stuff all the time, running around like crazy people. Like, you know, this morning, get up, run out the door, shoot a match, come home, throw together a cute little montage thingy— or at least I thought it was cute, um, for the amount of time I spent on it— put my feet up, relax, have something to eat, bring my kids' friends home, and then come down here and chat with you guys. So there's a lot of doing, but it's also— it's like, you know, it's fun. It's— I get to— that was one of the things that I can't remember what week it was, but I'm pretty sure I was talking to you guys about this— is the whole I get to show up here 9 PM on a Saturday night and talk to you folks and hopefully share something that may be helpful in some way, shape, or form. I get to share stuff like the suicide prevention stuff from NSSF. I get to spend time with folks like DJ and Mark Thomas and Abigail and Vanessa and Hillbilly and Guns of Barbecue, even though he says he's gone, and Mr. Gizzard Gary, who's, you know, tromping all over the nation. Vanessa Kitty, Misty, Miss Misty Wayne, Silver Mine, who always leaves us an extra comment to help boost the YouTube algorithm. And for those of you who are watching the YouTube chat and they're talking about being members of CCDL, both Silver Mine and Vanessa, that is Connecticut Citizens Defense League, and that is our local 2A advocate. I was looking forward to see— normally I have it within hand, I could show you guys, but whenever you need to do something and you're not really excited about it, like I get to do dishes. Sounds way better than I gotta go do the dishes, or I get to do the laundry, or I get to do my paperwork. It's like just those little things make the big differences. So with that, I have been going blah, blah, blah for quite some time. Oh yeah, there you go. You're back and you're nationwide. All right, how many people put your little hands up if like You can hear that tune, uh, when you say, 'I'm back and I'm nationwide.' So Gary's out there riffing on ZZ Top.

Gary riffs off of more lyrics and bands than any other dude I've run into in chats. That guy is sharp, and he's got a bunch of extra stuff in there that he can unleash at any time upon a poor unsuspecting DJ when it comes to miles of musical knowledge. So I'm glad to see that reference out there.

Gotcha. Well, it was so funny because like for me it's like, and I'm nationwide, and I'm like, my brain totally heard the music but I forgot it was ZZ Top. I just knew it was out there. Although I would like to say hi to our newest cat, um, Mr. Mew. I, I appreciate that in the beginning, DJ. I, I think from now on I'm gonna assume he is Mr. Mew instead of Mr. Moo.

Man, one mistake and you carry it like the rest of your life.

Oh well, I don't know, I could see it. Mew versus Moo.

But he's probably gonna have— he's probably gonna have a kitty icon worked up with something like, I don't know, a kitty in the pattern of a Holstein or something by the time I see him again. The guy's got a great sense of humor too.

Anything is possible. And, uh, I don't know. And I, I loved Abigail's comment of— see if I can find it super fast. Oh yeah, this one here. So I was also a sewer slider as— oh no, oh my gosh, that's autocorrect right there. Sewer slidle. I understand now that that is suicidal as a teenager, then instead keep living out of spite. And the part of this that I like, because I didn't realize sewer slidle was a typo versus suicidal.

Yeah.

The living out of spite part was my favorite part of that. But because I'm just thinking sewer slider is actually really what I thought. I'm like, okay, it's another street kid term maybe. But now that I'm reading out loud, I'm like, oh, I get it now. So, but it's awesome, all of these things. All right, so since Mr. Hillbilly is in here— hi, Hillbilly! He has his show starting roughly at the top of the hour because they don't really start at the top of the hour, but that's all when it It says it's supposed to start at the top of the hour, but he stops sometime. Yeah. So thank you, Hillbilly. And I will— will I see you? I don't know. I have the link. I might pop into the green room as I do often. So Hillbilly is up at the top of this hour. And with that, Sir DJ, would you like to thank our lovely guests, etc., and so forth, as you often do? And say all the nice things that you say to them before we go, and I'll keep my hands off of everything so you can do the right things at the right times.

Okay, like every possible thing that I might want to do is going to be at my control.

Is that fun? I won't hang up on you this time, I swear. Y'all have a wonderful weekend. And he can even mute me now if he wants to.

Oh no, come on, I wouldn't do that. Because I would take the whole screen away from you. Anyhow, tonight has been a blast. Brooke, thank you for hosting each week. It's a pleasure to be here, and it was a pleasure this evening to be in the company of Garage Guy 879, Vanessa Kitty, Abigail Sorcha Finnegan, Fiona's out there, rock, Gizzard Gary as well, 2 Live Moo Guns and Barbecue— that's that group— Misty Mrs. Wayne out there flexing the strength of an important person. I like to see her out there. Gizzard Gary's out there, it's as well. Got him twice in that list, he's so important. Mark Thomas is out there. Mike Ballinger was as well. Tactical Fudd, hey Buck, how you doing? He was out here as well. Got Gear Websites. And starting it off, always every week was the Crabby Turtle. So all y'all be safe.

We can't go now, I'm sorry, we also have to go, hey, and then say goodbye. Okay, I'll leave you now.

Okay, hold on then. Okay. So in other, other chats and spaces and places, when Mario Mosin appears, everybody in the, on the panel says hey. And so now we have done it on this program as well. So Mario Mosin, sorry I didn't see you coming in there at the last minute, but it's good to say hello to you as well. Um, until we see you all again, please be safe, have fun, take care of your crew and yourself, and rock. I mean