Drama Queens - Dial 988 • EP316 (Part Two w/Shannon Watts)

Episode Date: September 23, 2022

In light of the tough topic in episode 316, Sophia’s friend Shannon Watts (founder of Mom’s Demand Action) joins us for a conversation about what they’re doing to make a difference in the landscape of gun violence in America.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. It may look different, but native culture is alive. My name is Nicole Garcia, and on Burn Sage, Burn Bridges, we aim to explore that culture. Somewhere along the way, it turned into this full-fledged award-winning comic shop. That's Dr. Lee Francis IV, who opened the first Native comic bookshop. Explore his story along with many other native stories on the show, Burn Sage, Burn Bridges. Listen to Burn Sage Burn Bridges. Listen to Burn Sage Burn Bridges on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

First of all, you don't know me. We're all about that high school drama girl, drama girl, all about them high school queens. We'll take you for a ride and our comic girl. Drama girl. Cheering for the right team. Drama queens, drama queens. Smart girl, rough girl, fashion but you'll tough girl. You could sit with us, girl.

Drama queen, drama queens, drama queens, drama queens, drama queens. Hey, friends. Welcome back. Last week was big. And we realized that in going back and watching an episode like that one, we have questions. So many of you have had questions about what to do, how to get involved, how to not feel heartbroken and hopeless. And we know no better person to. lead us from hopelessness to help than the incredible and incomparable Shannon Watts, who is the

founder of moms demand action, an incredible group of moms from all across the country, and allies and advocates who are joining together to try to solve this crisis. And we could not be luckier than to have Shannon here with the three of us today. Hello, lovely friend and warrior. How are you? you. I'm good. How are you? Good. Good. This last episode was a hard watch, Shannon, trying to tackle the subject matter on TV, you know, and we were a show that wasn't taken very seriously. And so it felt really weird to become a platform for this conversation. And we know so much more now and kind of getting over stereotypes and finding out and finding out what is, the truth of the matter, what the real data shows, what the real, you know, studies show is important

for our audience. Information is power. And I'm really quick, sorry, I'm going to pause us for one sec just because they brought you in while we were doing your intro. And I would love just to like take one split second before we jump into the episode and also introduce you. Shannon, you're such an important person in my life. That's Hillary. This is Joy. And, yeah, last week we watched this episode that we did in 2006 that really centered on a sort of heartbroken kid who had been going through bullying, who brought a gun to school, and everything just went terribly. It wasn't a traditional, you know, narrative of how we see this happening. And one of the things that really just was so heartbreaking for all of us in watching these, you know, beautiful performances is that this keeps happening. and everybody, you know, so many of the fans online are like,

this one's a hard one to rewatch and it's scary and everybody knows somebody or somewhere that this has happened to or at. And we just were like, there's, we got to go to the lady who can tell us what to do. Yeah, it's interesting that everyone was thinking about and talking about in this show, lockdown drills, right? Back in 2006, I think it was pretty novel. It's really been the last decade, I would say, that lockdown drills have become something that 90% of school districts do. They're required in 40 states.

And that's almost, there's almost two different conversations. One is about the effectiveness of lockdown drills and are actually they doing more harm than good. And the other conversation is about school shootings and access to guns and, you know, who are the, school shooters, right? They're not this person that comes in off the street, typically. They're actually students. And how do you stop those? And really what is the bridge between those two issues is the fact that now in this country, guns are the leading cause of death among children and taints. Go ahead. I don't, I just don't even know how to wrap my head around that. You know, we, I live in a rural community and guns are part of the culture here.

And I grew up with guns, you know? And so understanding the difference in legislation and in gun ownership from when we were kids in the 90s to what it is now is, is I think, a big hurdle. You know, because so many people are like, well, I grew up with guns. But there's a decided difference between what kinds of guns are available, how guns are sold on the Internet. We didn't have Internet sales when we were growing up. It's a totally different world. Well, and how they're marketed to people now. You know, in the same way that those vape companies have gotten in trouble for marketing to kids,

we're in an era of marketing that is perpetuating so much of the desire and the change in culture, it seems. And I wonder if, you know, are there a couple of things that you can kind of teach us and help us teach our audience, some of the points you think are the most valid. Like you said, how did we become a country where 90% of kids are doing school shooter drills? Are they effective? What has changed? Who's doing this? And what do we do? Because it's such a tremendous trauma that we're going through nationally. And the epidemic of violence like this doesn't care where you live, how you live, how much money you have, how you vote, it's transcended everything. And so I wonder if you can help us break down what it is now and also what we can do about it. Absolutely. And, you know, there's

so much to unpack there. So if I skip over anything, feel free to ask me and I'll go back. But if you look at guns in this country and, you know, you were saying that back in the 90s, there weren't online sales and there weren't as many or at least the same kind of guns. And that's exactly right. When you go back to, say, 1968, there's about triple the amount of guns in circulation now in this country. In addition, we now have the internet, and many sales are done online, and there's no federal law requiring background checks on those sales. So states have to create those laws, and about 21 states have created those laws, but at the same time, 21 states have passed something called permitless carry, which means you can buy and carry a gun with no

background check, no permit, no training. And so there's these two forces at war. And that's really the mainstream Americans, 90% of whom support things like background checks on every gun sale versus gunmakers and gun manufacturers. And the reason that they want to sell more guns to more people with fewer barriers to entry, like a background check, is because it is a huge industry. It's billions of dollars, right? Yeah, follow the money, right? Exactly. And why are they marketing AR-15s with ads that say things like consider your man-card

reissued? And it's not an accident that then we see young, white men who are more and more responsible for these hate crimes with guns or school shootings. And so... So can I ask a quick question before we move into that? Because you said something that, again, I find to be so powerful. When we talk about how universal this is, literally, like, we can prove that 90% of America wants a federal background check law.

So again, that transcends where you live, how you live, how much money you make, how you vote. Background check. They should be, if you have to have a license to drive a car, you should have a license to get a gun. You have to be able to go to the range, show that you know how to use it, show how to take care of it properly. Do you know what lawmakers say when we say that?

They say, what? I say driving is not a right. It's a privilege. It's not a Second Amendment. It's not in the Constitution. So I guess I just wonder, Shannon, 90% of us agree on this. And there's not a whole lot 90% of people in this country. We agree on 90% of us agree.

So how does that 10% take the power from 90% of us? Is that lobbying? Is that corporate money? Like how? How? It's a great question. And it is really, when you go back to when the NRA stopped being sort of a hunting and fishing and safety organization and became a gun lobbying organization in the late 70s.

And they realized that they could pervert the Second Amendment in order to enrich gun manufacturers and gun lobbyists. And that's exactly what they've done. They've become more and more radicalized as an organization because they've been pulled to the right, much like the Tea Party pulled Congress to the right. There are state gun groups, almost every single state has one, and they are to the right of the NRA. They believe any law whatsoever is an infringement on the Second Amendment. And so that base has pulled the NRA to believing really the same thing, which is we are going to support anything that mainstream America supports.

We are going to be part of the extremist base. And as a result, we see open carry being normalized and permitless carry being normalized and permitless carry being normalized. and a lack of safety training and all of these things that again mainstream american support going out the window and so we have to show up in state houses and really fight against the gun lobby as they try to endanger our communities but but why or why is this being allowed the other thing that we did not account for was that guns would become an organizing principle in this country right So when you look at a very right-wing agenda, when you look at the laws that are being passed that are anti-abortion or anti-LGBQ, all these different things, what is the thing that is the organizing principle around these issues? It's guns. Guns get people in the door. They raise money. They help create a new customer base and they excite the base, right? And so what we're seeing is this, this, lobby investing in lawmakers that are worried about being primaried, they're worried about going against

the gun lobby, and so they have started doing these things that are incredibly radical. And look, let's just be clear. The data shows that weak gun laws kill people. When you look at the states with strong gun laws, you see less gun death and less gun violence. When you look at states with weak gun laws, you see the opposite. It's intuitive, but it's also proven by data. Well, and we've got decades of data now. You know, it's not like this is something that's just sprung up. And, you know, it's not the pandemic. It's not, you know, something that's new to us and we're still sorting out.

This has been going on for decades. And we talked in our last episode about how our specific age group was the first age group to be in high school during Columbine and now have kids old enough to be in middle school and high school. still dealing with it. And I find myself increasingly frustrated with my elders who didn't have to go through that, who aren't in a panic when they drop their kids off at school. I loved the pandemic because my kids were home with me and I didn't have to think about that because if you're out there dropping your kids off and the drop off line, you're thinking about it. Of course. I don't know any mother who isn't or or father. And so, you know, I think providing people on either side of the aisle with action, like calls to action, like what do we do? If 90% of us all agree on this one thing

and our representatives are getting pushed by money in a different direction, what do we do? Well, and that's one of the things that I will say has inspired me most about what you do, Shannon and how you've led, you know, you're leading coalitions across the country. You've really helped a lot of us understand that this isn't a disagreement between neighbors. This is 90% of us against a corporate interest that operates with billions of dollars

in ways that most of us can't understand. Because most of us, you know, the four of us on this show right now and our listeners at home, none of us has the power to call us state senator and derail a law. that 86% of their constituents voted in support of. You know, like, that's not something most of us can do. And I think to realize that that's what we're up against,

but also be bolstered by the hope in numbers, be bolstered by that 90%, be bolstered by the nonpartisan truth of the fact that we agree on this issue. We don't agree with that corporation, but most of us agree with each other, you know, that is the thing that gives me hope when I'm scrolling TikTok

and I burst into tears because I see a parent post a video of her six-year-old son and she's doing bulletproof backpack drills with him at their house. Like, you guys aren't supposed to do this. Like, kids aren't supposed to live like this. And it only happens here.

And so, it's hard to it's hard to say like well if it only happens here and that's what we're up against what do we do how do you give people pointers on how to even begin the conversation about gun violence in their families and then how to take this nearly universal agreement that it should end like out into their communities so the first thing I want to say is there I have so much hope I wouldn't wake up and do this work every single day as a full-time volunteer if I didn't feel like we were winning. And, you know, if you go back to 2012 when we started doing this work, about a quarter of all Democrats in Congress had an A rating from the NRA.

Today, none do. Wow. So that's the seismic shift in American politics that having this coalition, this badass army of angry women and moms saying not in my community, you won't. That's what made that change. I mean, we were literally cornering Democratic senators at their town halls and their house parties and their different meetings and saying, how can you be on the side of the gun lobby? And they started changing their votes. They started being proud of their F ratings from the NRA. They wear pins now.

And we need every lawmaker, regardless of political party, to be on the right side of this issue. And I was really heartened that last month when we celebrated the signing of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first federal gun legislation to pass in 26 years, we had 15 Republicans sign on. You know, again, we're seeing this shift. And I think people get frustrated sometimes because they want wholesale overnight change. You know, there's this tweet I hate that says something like, if we didn't change after Sandy Hook, we never will. And nothing could be further from the truth.

So much has changed in a decade. And this work is like drips on a rock. It is a marathon, not a sprint. Incrementalism is frustrating, but it leads to revolutions. And that is what we're seeing. So I would just say, you have to use your voice. You have to use your vote on this issue. You know, women only hold about 25% of the 500,000 elected positions in this country.

We're only 5% of Fortune 1,000 CEOs. We're not making the laws and the policies that protect our families and community. So we have to get off the sidelines and get out there and fight. for these changes. And let me just give you an example. We have shown up at school boards for a decade. As a result, over 2.5 million families have received secure storage notifications from their school district saying you should keep your guns locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition. Wow. 2.5 million families. Last night, Governor Newsom signed a bill that will require every family in the state of California to get that information. That means 8 million

kids in this country will have these notifications now. And like I said before, most school shooters are students who have easy access to guns in their home, 4.6 million kids live in homes with unsecured guns. So, you know, showing up, even at school boards or city councils or statehouses, it all adds up. That's awesome. It may look different, but native culture is very alive. My name is Nicole Garcia, and on Burn Sage, Burn Bridges, we aim to explore that culture. It was a huge honor to become a television writer because it does feel oddly, like, very traditional. It feels like Bob Dylan going electric, that this is something we've been doing for a hundred

of years. You carry with you a sense of purpose and confidence. That's Sierra Taylor Ornelis, who with Rutherford Falls became the first native showrunner in television history. On the podcast, Burn Sage, Burn Bridges, we explore her story. along with other Native stories, such as the creation of the first Native Comic-Con or the importance of reservation basketball.

Every day, Native people are striving to keep traditions alive while navigating the modern world, influencing and bringing our culture into the mainstream. Listen to Burn Sage Burn Bridges on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. are going to be a big deal. On this issue. And so, yeah, we, we just had a special election here in the Hudson Valley in New York,

where our conservative leader was slated to win by a lot of points, and he did not. A veteran who was pro-Roe and pro-gun safety ended up winning, and it was shocking. I mean, it shocked the nation who was watching this. And everyone was like, the mom showed up. The mom's a pissed. Pat Ryan will tell you, and he even tweeted this, Mons Demand Action volunteers were his best door knockers. They showed up, and he was supposed to lose by double digits, and he won.

And he credits Moms Demand Action for helping make that happen. I mean, we are literally everywhere. And one thing we're really good at is getting out the vote. Shannon, you've built this beautiful coalition. and you've really transcended identity politics. Like, you've managed to just get people together on the facts and the truth and on passion for protecting their kids. How, I mean, because I think of the decade plus that I've known your work, how did you start?

Because I know so many of us can sit at home and think, I don't know what I can do. And you've helped all of us do this. how did this begin? Was there a final straw moment? Was there something that you saw or heard that just made you go, I don't know what I'm going to do, but I have to do something? Yeah, you know, I think so many other moms in America had the same idea I did. That very cold December day when we were watching news unfold on the television and 20 children and six educators were slaughtered in the sanctity of an American elementary school. And it was just kind of like, we can't live like this. And our children, sure is hell, should not die like this. And I can remember going online at the time I lived in Indiana. And I thought, I want to join something like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which was so influential to me as a teen in the 80s.

Yeah. Oh, my God. They were a huge deal. They changed the culture of drunk driving, you know, and the laws. I mean, they were just like unstoppable, angry moms. And I wanted to join something like that for gun safety. And I went online and I found some think, tanks mostly run by men, some state organizations mostly run by men.

So I just created a Facebook page not to start an organization just to have the conversation. And, you know, you all, I'm sure are type A women and moms. Like they started calling me and emailing me and texting me and saying like, I want to do this where I live. And really we didn't know what this was. In fact, I think we thought rallies and marches, but it became really clear really quickly that this was organizing in the same way the Gunnobby did with boots on the ground,

an army that could go toe to toe with a special interest. And here we are 10 years later. We have 10 million supporters and we're twice as large as the NRA. It's amazing. So cool. You're such a badass. No, it's these women. They're amazing.

It's so, so cool. So for people at home who are not acquainted with your organization, What is the best way for them to get up to speed and to learn about how they can connect with other people in their community to, you know, raise their voice, to get involved and to also have productive conversations with their children. I am the mother of a 12-year-old boy. I know that boys are being radicalized in our country.

Understanding what talking points I can bring up with him and his friends is important to me. And so where can other women find those resources? You bring up such a good point, which is we should all be watching our boys and young men online. And what are they exposed to and what are they seeing? Because especially during COVID, we are seeing more and more kids being radicalized into being gun extremists and to committing hate crimes. And of course, they have easy access to things like AR-15s in this country, right? So you bring up a really important point.

Look, if you want to learn more about lockdown drills and the research we have that shows, really, they cause depression and anxiety. They aren't effective in stopping mass shootings. You can go to everytown.org. There's so much different research there. Every town is the umbrella that moms demand action and students demand action are under. If you want to learn about secure storage and even how to ask the question when you send your kid to friends and families homes, the website for that is be smart for kids.org.

And you'll learn all kinds of, you know, I do it through text, right? Do you have a gate around your pool? Do you let your kids play enrated video games? And by the way, do you have guns and how are they secured? So they're really easy ways to do that. And then the last thing I would say is you don't have to be a mom. We're mothers and others now. If you want to join moms to demand action or students demand action, just text the word ready to 6443.

6443. Yep. Ready. Amazing. That's such a great resource. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I will say... Are there specific policy that you guys, policies that you guys are putting forward right now that people can look out for that are not going to be scary for people who, you know, want, they want the right to own their guns, they have the right to own their guns, they want, you know, we're all gun owners. But to do it in a safe way where it's not a scary thing that we're looking out like, oh, no, they're trying to remove our rights from us. But a policy that is going to really unite everyone. What are the things that we can look at? look for in our voting. Yes. And you bring up a really good point, which is, you know, we are not

anti-gun. We're not against the Second Amendment. Many of our volunteers are gun owners or their partners are gun owners. There's 400 million guns in this country, right? We're all gun owners. I mean, that's like a, it's a really common thing. And the rhetoric is so scary, you know? Yeah, exactly. And so we just want to restore the responsibilities that should go along with gun rights. And that includes a background check on every gun sale. Hopefully, you know, we will have federal legislation that closes all the loopholes. But as I mentioned, we just had the Bipartisan Saver Communities Act, which is a huge step forward. And we are in the meantime working on that legislation in the state.

So as I mentioned, we've passed background checks now in 21 states. We've passed laws that disarmed domestic abusers in 29 states. We've closed so many different loopholes. We're passing secure storage laws. This is, again, just about the responsibilities that go along with gun rights. You should have a background check. You should have a permit. You should have a certain amount of rigorous gun safety training, right?

Experience. Yeah, training. That we, most American support. And also, you know, 18-year-olds shouldn't have access to weapons of war. I mean, I think we can all agree on that. If you have a kid, you know that your 21-year-old son, you know, is nowhere near ready to handle that. No, they don't even have their own. health insurance. You know what I mean? Like they're still on your phone plan. You can't have a gun.

Yeah, I don't think you should have access to something like that before your prefrontal cortex is done developing. And that shouldn't be controversial. If you can't rent a car, you shouldn't have an AR-Vitini. Girl, that is the point right there. Yes. Yes. Thank you. I follow vote vets. I grew up in a in a military home. And so I really appreciate their take on gun reform. and, you know, legislation in our country. Are there other organizations that you would recommend people look into? Yes, I love Fair Fight. I think that's a really important organization about freedom and voting.

I think you should get involved in something that you're passionate about, right? So if it's voting rights, if it's abortion rights, you know, if it's school boards. I mean, it's really kind of scary what's happening in our country with school boards. So, look, if you Google those organizations and you're passionate about something, like, find what fits. It doesn't have to be a national organization or, you know, you could start something yourself, right? I mean, if you are passionate about something, there's no reason that you can't create this in your neighborhood or your community or your state. I just think it's so important, though, to get off the sidelines. Just find what you're passionate about and agree that you're going to give an hour or two a week, if that's all you can afford to do.

but it does all add up and I'm just really impressed by you know one organization that I do love I just met the one woman who runs it it's called mothers against Greg Abbott and oh yeah they're so amazing I mean that they are just doing such great things in the state of Texas because they're angry about a whole host of issues like there should be there should be a mom's demand abortion action there should be a mom's demand you know whatever that is like we should just be creating coalitions and working together because that's that's kind of you know, Alice Walker said, you know, activism is the rent I pay to live on the planet. And that's what a democracy is. I love what you were saying about that you wouldn't do this job if there weren't

hope. And I think that is, has got to be the bottom line and these things that feel like David and Goliath problems for us, whether it's homelessness or gun rights or, you know, I mean, whatever, the list goes on and on. But you have to find a center of hope that is your beacon. Otherwise, it just feels too behemoth. There's just no way to get through it. So I'm so glad to hear that you feel that in your work, that when you wake up in the morning, you're like, I see the hope.

Never join an organization where there isn't joy in activism. Because I don't think you can keep going unless you feel hopeful and joyful and you find your community of people. That's what keeps people involved. One of the things that gives me so much joy, Shannon, is, you know, things are on fire a lot lately. It's been a really intense couple of years for everybody. And some days I get on Instagram just to go to your page

and I scroll to find where you've posted a slideshow because you'll post like 10 wins. And you'll be like, this amazing woman won elected office in this state and this incredible thing happened and this community got this law passed in this school did this and I'm just like God I needed that I needed that dose of good news and things to celebrate and it it does you know joy you're right it really helps us put in perspective when when we feel small and scared to realize that everywhere around us people are winning and succeeding every little bit counts yeah all right we're our sleeves are rolled up Shannon

put us to work sleeves rolled up we have an army yes ma'am of awesome fans just in time yeah listen it's important that we care we did a tv show about caring so much about everything and so if we can turn that into real life care awesome that's amazing you know what a reward i love it yeah that's it's it's so nice to see you it's wonderful to meet you thank you for having me on and thank you for shining a light on this issue which again because gun violence is the leading cause of death among teens or children and teens, we all have a role to play. And whether it's asking people about how they secure their guns, whether we do it ourselves, whether it's advocating in school boards and city councils and state houses, we all

have a role to play, whether we're gun owners or not. Yeah. I will say, I don't know if I've ever shared this with you, Shannon, but years ago when all the coalitions worked on that friendly fire campaign to illuminate the fact that so many kids in this country get injured or killed when they find unsecured guns. I realized, and this was before any of my friends who I see at my house regularly had had kids. Y'all are in different states. But I realized, like, as a gun owner, I have always been very clear about a secure place, but I did not have our guns in a gun safe. And I I was like, here I am, helping do a voiceover for a campaign, got to go. And I, like, went right down to the shop and bought a safe and was like, it doesn't matter

that they're in a secure place and that there aren't ever kids in my house. There could be and there will be. And it was cool to feel like I learned something instead of like I got shamed into something. And you've been so instrumental at helping so many of us learn where we can be better, do better, do more. And I think that's what we need more of. And so I know Hillary was asking about all the other organizations, including your own, that people can look to for that kind of inspiration. Again, another shout out to Vovets.

Just love them so much. But for people who feel inspired, where should our listeners go today to be up on all that you're doing and to add their voices to the fight? Oh, that would be great. Go to momsdemandaction.org or text a word ready to 6443. The thing I love is that we have this whole group of volunteers and their job is to call and welcome new volunteers. Every time there's a horrific shooting tragedy

and there were so many this summer, sadly, people get off the sidelines. And so it's really important that we can say to people, here's what you can do in your community next week. Here's an event coming up near you. Here's what you can do to get out the vote. So I promise you if you text the word ready to 64433, you'll get a call back.

and we will tell you exactly how to plug in where you live. It's amazing. Thank you so much for coming, Shannon. Thanks for having me. It may look different, but Native culture is very alive. My name is Nicole Garcia, and on Burn Sage, Burn Bridges, we aim to explore that culture. It was a huge honor to become a television writer because it does feel oddly, like, very traditional. It feels like Bob Dylan going electric, that this is something we've been doing

for a hundred years. You carry with you a sense of purpose and confidence. That's Sierra Taylor Ornellis, who with Rutherford Falls became the first native showrunner in television history. On the podcast, Burn Sage, Burn Bridges, we explore her story, along with other native stories, such as the creation of the first Native Comic-Con or the importance of reservation basketball. Every day, native people are striving to keep traditions alive while navigating the modern world, influencing and bringing our culture into the mainstream. Listen to Burn Sageburn Bridges on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I read the coolest tweet recently that I sent to her.

Somebody posted it and said, the thing nobody talks about, about is that the Second Amendment was ratified before bullets existed. I mean, it was musket shot. It was like, gunpowder and a, oh, gunpowder. Those little round balls that went in muskets one at a time with gunpowder. It took forever to learn. Yeah. And I was like, oh my God, it's so insane that we have this big fight when the thing we're

fighting about didn't even exist when the thing we're fighting about, it would be like fighting about flying cars right now. Yeah. But to Joy's point, cars, you got to go to school. You got to get a license. You got to take tests regularly. It's like, we're just asking for something sensible. I think it's just that, you know, people are scared of what they don't know. And it feels like what you were saying, Hillary. It's so scary. The narrative is so scary. The rhetoric is. Don't take away my guns. And it's like nobody's trying to do that. We're just trying to make it more responsible so that the wrong people don't get their hands on it. That's what's going on. Yeah, Pete Buttigieg said the best thing a couple years ago. There was a mom's demand helped with a big gunsense forum in Iowa during the last presidential primary. Yeah.

And when you know when there were still 17 candidates. And Pete was up there talking and he's a veteran. And he was like, hey guys, we have this whole conversation about a well-regulated militia. Key words, well and regulated. He goes, I'm a military veteran. There's a line. You can't own a predator drone. You just can't have one as a citizen.

And he goes, and I've got to be honest, as a man who carried one of these weapons in war, you shouldn't have one. And I'm not in the army anymore, and neither should I. And I just was like, you're my hero. That was incredible. You can't have a predator drone. No. I'll never forget it. No.

You know, the upside is not there. And the sales teams want to make you feel like, oh, there's all this horrible stuff happening in the world. If you just own one of our toys, it'll protect. your family and so that cycle of salesmanship continues and i think the data is on the side of no you know if you put a bear trap in your house someone's going to step on it exactly um and you know to make a tv show about this 15 years ago and to still be talking about it is hard but shannon gives me hope that there's progress being made yeah and you know what and you know what It's so inspiring to be reminded that you don't have to wait for someone in some office to fix it.

Like, a group of moms can get together and get it done. Moms are terrifying. A group of moms will always get it done when they get together. Let me just tell you. I'm here for it. Here's to moms. Here's to angry moms. I don't have a drink, but just pretend they do.

My favorite kind of ladies. This is coffee, but I'll pretend it's alcohol. I got soda water. Come on. we're responsible. Well, I love you girls. Love you guys so much. I'm glad we did this. Thank you. Thanks, Sophia, for introducing us to Shannon. That was very cool. And to our friends at home, you know, we don't have all the answers, but what we do get excited about is when somebody illuminates hope for us to move forward. So we hope that this special episode was able to give you

a little bit of hope because oh man last week was lacking a lot of it yeah it was a tough episode well um hopefully the next one will start to recover a bit fingers crossed we'll see you guys in 317 love you all hey thanks for listening don't forget to leave us a review you can also follow us on instagram at drama queens o t h or email us at drama queens at i heart radio.com. See you next time. We're all about that high school drama girl, drama girl, all about them high school queens. We'll take you for a ride and our comic girl, cheering for the right team. Drama queens, drama queens, smart girl, rough girl, fashion but you're tough girl, you could sit

with us girl. Drama queen, drama queens, drama queens, drama queens, drama queens. It may look different, but native culture is alive. My name is Nicole Garcia, and on Burn Sage, Burn Bridges, we aim to explore that culture. Somewhere along the way, it turned into this full-fledged award-winning comic shop. That's Dr. Lee Francis IV, who opened the first native comic bookshop. Explore his story along with many other native stories on the show, Burn Sage Burn Bridges. Listen to Burn Sage Burn Bridges on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.