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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Buck Sexton and you're listening to the

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Speaker 1: Tutor Dixon Podcast, part of the Clay Travers and Buck

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Speaker 1: Sexton podcast Network.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Tutor Dixon Podcast. I'm Tutor Dixon and

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Speaker 2: it is great to have you tuning in.

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Speaker 1: Today.

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Speaker 2: We are going to discuss a really tough subject with

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Speaker 2: a dad who has been through the unimaginable pain of

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Speaker 2: losing a child at the home of a neighbor whose

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Speaker 2: father failed to secure his guns. Kristin and Mike Song

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Speaker 2: lost their fifteen year old son, Ethan in twenty eighteen,

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Speaker 2: and today they're working on legislation they believe will save

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Speaker 2: young lives. Together, both he and his wife created the

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Speaker 2: Ethan Miller Song Foundation to honor Ethan's life and pursue

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Speaker 2: safe storage legislation to protect other children from a similar tragedy.

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Speaker 2: This may be a conversation that many of my listeners

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Speaker 2: have strong and different opinions about, but we think it's

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Speaker 2: very important to have the dialogue. Mike, thank you so

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Speaker 2: much for joining me today, and let me start by saying,

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Speaker 2: I am so sorry for your loss. We talked a

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Speaker 2: little bit about this before we started recording.

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Speaker 1: As a mom, I really I can't imagine what you're

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Speaker 1: going through.

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Speaker 2: And I think it's so important for us to talk

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Speaker 2: about this because many of the people who are listening

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Speaker 2: have never been through this, and it is something that

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Speaker 2: we all have to be aware of as parents. Thank

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Speaker 2: you for greeing to come on.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a pleasure to be here. Thanks for those

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Speaker 3: those kind words. And it is a devastating experience and

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Speaker 3: as every parent, could you try to imagine one day

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Speaker 3: your child does not come home from a friend's house

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Speaker 3: and its life is forever changed. But I appreciate being

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Speaker 3: hearing a chance to talk about this really important topic.

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Speaker 2: It's something that right now, I think so many people

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Speaker 2: are on one side or the other on so many

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Speaker 2: of these issues, and I think you're probably one of

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Speaker 2: those people that's like, Hey, I'm just on the side

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Speaker 2: of a dad who wants to exactly what you said,

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Speaker 2: see my child come home.

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Speaker 1: If you can tell.

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Speaker 2: Us a little bit about Ethan and just your experience

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Speaker 2: and what led you to based on your story, because

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Speaker 2: I don't think a lot of people know your stories.

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Speaker 2: If you can just explain what happened and what led

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Speaker 2: you to come out and be a fighter, because we

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Speaker 2: also talked about that. I mean, you could have made

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Speaker 2: another choice to not talk about it, but you're out

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Speaker 2: there every day.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, we we had a really great Ethan

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Speaker 3: was a fantastic kid.

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Speaker 4: I'm a sports person.

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Speaker 3: I went fishing with him, hiking, biking, camping.

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Speaker 4: We were really an outdoors type family.

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Speaker 3: So we spent a lot of time together as a

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Speaker 3: family of five, and we essentially tried to instill in

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Speaker 3: him a lot of common sense about safety. And so

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Speaker 3: a lot of folks say, well, you should have just

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Speaker 3: talked to him about gun safety. I talked to my

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Speaker 3: son quite a bit about it. I'm a musician and

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Speaker 3: I was a big fan of the band Chicago, So

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Speaker 3: I distinctly remember on four or five occasions stelling all

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Speaker 3: three of my kids, hey, listen, here's the story of

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Speaker 3: how the guitar player in Chicago died. He was cleaning

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Speaker 3: his gun. He was a gun expert, and he made

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Speaker 3: a mistake. You know, so you always have to check

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Speaker 3: if there's a bullet in the chamber, stuff like that.

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Speaker 3: And all my friends who owned guns, you know, I've

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Speaker 3: always been one hundred percent.

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Speaker 4: In favor of them having the right to do that.

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Speaker 3: One day, Ethan had to get his braces off, and

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Speaker 3: it was a half day at school. So he said, look,

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Speaker 3: I'd love to just kind of stay at home and

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Speaker 3: hang out a little bit and get my braces off,

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Speaker 3: and then, you know, going back to school doesn't make

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Speaker 3: a lot of sense because it'll only be a half

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Speaker 3: hour left. So my wife took him out to a

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Speaker 3: lunch and he was talking about his life. He wanted

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Speaker 3: to join the military, wanted to have a big family,

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Speaker 3: wanted to go to Rice University in Texas, and you know,

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Speaker 3: he said, look, I just want to go over my

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Speaker 3: friend's house and spend you know, an hour there. Can

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Speaker 3: I go over there after lunch? And so he got

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Speaker 3: his braces off, and it's kind of sad because he

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Speaker 3: got his braces off. My wife sent me a photo

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Speaker 3: and that's the last photo was taken of him. And

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Speaker 3: so he goes over his friend's house and there, unfortunately,

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Speaker 3: you know, and this is not I think indicative of

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Speaker 3: most gun owners, there was a unsecured guns in the

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Speaker 3: front hole closet. The father had made it pretty obvious

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Speaker 3: where the guns were in the house, and the child

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Speaker 3: had been producing them and showing them to a variety

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Speaker 3: of kids. Both physically in the house and through social

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Speaker 3: media for months, for months, so there was a lot

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Speaker 3: of any idea. No, we would have been really quick

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Speaker 3: to say, let's let's have your friend come over here,

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Speaker 3: but you're not going to go over there. And it

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Speaker 3: was a total shock because this was a person who

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Speaker 3: was a private detective certainly should have known about gun safety.

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Speaker 3: You know, lifelong NRA member, I know they teach gun safety.

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Speaker 3: It's one of my points that I always try to

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Speaker 3: make that there's not a lot of disagreement on this.

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Speaker 3: The NRA says, if there's kids around, you should probably

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Speaker 3: lock your guns down, separate the AMMO. They have a

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Speaker 3: whole class on it.

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Speaker 2: So but interestingly, they don't really support your legislation. They

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Speaker 2: support doing it, but they don't want it to be mandated.

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Speaker 2: But I will say that, you know, I've been to

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Speaker 2: a gun training in Michigan where when you come out

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Speaker 2: of that gun training, they have the storage units right

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Speaker 2: there and they're saying, this is the best thing to do,

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Speaker 2: and so it is something that is top of mind

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Speaker 2: for them, and it is something that would have stopped

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Speaker 2: this from happening for you. And what blows my mind

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Speaker 2: is what you said about this guy being a private detective,

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Speaker 2: he had a security company, and so me as a

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Speaker 2: mom because I also said this before we started recording,

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Speaker 2: as a mom, I don't have guns in the house.

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Speaker 2: I am scared to death of my daughters going to

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Speaker 2: someone's house that has unsecured guns like this, and I

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Speaker 2: would feel safe if they had a security company. And

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Speaker 2: this was somebody who probably also thought, well, I've talked

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Speaker 2: about safety all the time, but it still happened.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that was one thing that you know, lulled us

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Speaker 3: into a sense of this was a responsible person. And

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Speaker 3: Ethan was in the home for maybe fifteen twenty minutes

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Speaker 3: and he was shot in the head. And you know,

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Speaker 3: I always think of that scene from Saving Private Ryan,

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Speaker 3: where the you know, the military folks come to the

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Speaker 3: front door and the mom knows this is bad news.

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Speaker 3: That happened to my wife, and this was horrific to

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Speaker 3: hear this in your wife's boys. Hey, they said, we

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Speaker 3: got to get to the hospital. She just texted me

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Speaker 3: nine one one. I was nearby. We got down to

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Speaker 3: the hospital and they when we got in there, I

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Speaker 3: knew it was going to be a real life changing

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Speaker 3: moment because there was ten or fifteen law enforcement officers there,

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Speaker 3: and when we walked in, you know, you don't expect

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Speaker 3: them to know who you are. You know, you're like, wow,

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Speaker 3: there's a lot of police here. And then all of

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Speaker 3: a sudden you realize they're here because they all came

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Speaker 3: down because this is a we're gonna have to tell

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Speaker 3: some parents that their kid is dead. And we waited

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Speaker 3: in this little room, a place where no parent ever

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Speaker 3: wants to be in this little room, and in comes

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Speaker 3: the doctor and he just says, we couldn't, we couldn't

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Speaker 3: save your son. And we just fell off of our

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Speaker 3: chairs into an abyss like say, you feel like you're

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Speaker 3: falling off a cliff.

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Speaker 4: You're you're spinning madly.

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Speaker 3: You just feel your heart's getting ripped out of your body,

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Speaker 3: is what it feels like. And then you know the

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Speaker 3: doctor just said, you know, hey, listen, you can't see him.

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Speaker 3: And because my wife is adamant about going and seeing him,

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Speaker 3: my wife Kristen, and you know, nope, and I'll never

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Speaker 3: forget it because is he said, in sort of a

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Speaker 3: broken voice, it's just going to be too grotesque. You know,

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Speaker 3: you're like, this is my son. I just literally hugged

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Speaker 3: him that morning. So from there it was just it

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Speaker 3: was terrible. It's the worst, the worst thing you could

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Speaker 3: ever experience as a parent, even worse to see your wife,

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Speaker 3: you know, her expression, the sound in her voice, what

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Speaker 3: it sounds like when a mom loses a child. But

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Speaker 3: it just doesn't sound like any it's it just chills

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Speaker 3: your soul. And so climbing out of this, I had

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Speaker 3: to call my other two kids, tell them this news.

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Speaker 3: You know, my daughter dropped the phone, she was at college,

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Speaker 3: drop the phone, screamed for fifteen minutes while I try to,

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Speaker 3: you know, just soften one percent of the blow that,

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Speaker 3: you know, but you couldn't do that.

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Speaker 4: It was just going to be hard. And then I

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Speaker 4: had to call everyone else.

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Speaker 3: I made these phone calls after phone calls until I

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Speaker 3: just couldn't call another person. I just finally collapsed, you know.

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Speaker 3: And that was that was where this moment. My wife

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Speaker 3: turned to me and she said, at least one positive

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Speaker 3: thing has to come out of this one thing, and

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Speaker 3: I said, yeah, absolutely, And that's when we decided to

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Speaker 3: try to save other kids and help other families out.

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Speaker 3: And that's where we sort of got started with what's

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Speaker 3: our mission going to be?

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Speaker 2: So You've been able to pass a law in Connecticut,

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Speaker 2: but you get pushback. I mean on this issue, there

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Speaker 2: is pushback because there are people who believe that this

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Speaker 2: is an infringement on your Second Amendment rights, that this

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Speaker 2: is going to stop people from having the freedom that

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Speaker 2: they want to have with their guns. And there are

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Speaker 2: criticisms that from people on the other side saying it

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Speaker 2: doesn't go far enough. So go through a little bit

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Speaker 2: about what it's like to be fighting this when you

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Speaker 2: have both sides kind of saying no, no, no, yeah.

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Speaker 4: You know.

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Speaker 3: The first thing that I did was I showed people

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Speaker 3: pictures of Ethan, like I put up this it's unusual.

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Speaker 3: Our approach was very unusual. We posted one hundred pictures

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Speaker 3: of Ethan. We just wanted everybody to see that he

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Speaker 3: was a real human being that lived on the planet.

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Speaker 3: Very lovable kid, interesting kid. We posted up video and

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Speaker 3: we wanted people to see this was a human being,

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Speaker 3: and people started to go, oh, they started to recognize him. So,

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Speaker 3: first and foremost, we're all human beings here, and I

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Speaker 3: completely acknowledge it and understand people's nervousness. Then my friends

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Speaker 3: who are gun owners came to me and said Mike,

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Speaker 3: you got to come over my house because I'm going

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Speaker 3: to show you my pincoat safe. Another friend had a

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Speaker 3: biometric safe. Another friend who is the most conservative person

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Speaker 3: that I know, Steve, great guy. I worked out with

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Speaker 3: him at CrossFit for years. He said, I'm in favor

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Speaker 3: of this, and I am the biggest second moendments right

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Speaker 3: person that you're ever going to meet. I've got like

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Speaker 3: fifteen guns.

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Speaker 4: In my house.

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Speaker 3: I'm an you know, And he said, but when I

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Speaker 3: was a kid, I had this experience that I had it.

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Speaker 3: I got hold of my father's gun and I was

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Speaker 3: playing Cowboys and I was on the table, kitchen table

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Speaker 3: when they came down for breakfast, and I pointed a

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Speaker 3: loaded gun at my father. Everyone ducked, and finally, you know,

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Speaker 3: he said, I came that close to killing my dad,

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Speaker 3: and I thought, wow. He said, I'm in favor of

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Speaker 3: this one law. So I always try to say this

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Speaker 3: is I think the least polarizing law. And I'm a

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Speaker 3: big tech person, a technology person, and I think technology

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Speaker 3: changes things. And pincote safes open as fast as your smartphone,

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Speaker 3: biometric safes even faster. Maybe there's a win win here

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Speaker 3: where you can get a tax credit for gun owners

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Speaker 3: for you know, beefing up their ability to store their

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Speaker 3: gun safely. And maybe we could put a law in

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Speaker 3: place for those folks who are going to be sort

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Speaker 3: of like this dad, who just going to turn a

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Speaker 3: blind eye. And like you said earlier, you don't know

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Speaker 3: where your kids are twenty four to seven. That's why

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Speaker 3: I said to Senator Cruz when I met with him

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Speaker 3: with my wife. He said, listen, you know you're a dad.

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Speaker 4: I'm a dad.

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Speaker 3: I'm just talking dad to dad. I just think, you know,

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Speaker 3: you just don't know where your kids are twenty four

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Speaker 3: to seven. And there's more and more guns out there,

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Speaker 3: so the probability is growing that they'll be in a

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Speaker 3: home where someone can act.

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Speaker 2: And just to be clear, what happened to your son,

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Speaker 2: this was an accident. This wasn't that the other boy

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Speaker 2: was purposely trying to hurt.

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Speaker 4: Him, Yes, it was.

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Speaker 3: We believe it was a completely unintentional accident. What's not

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Speaker 3: widely known is that the corner, you know, the news

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Speaker 3: reported that Ethan shot himself, and unfortunately that doesn't appear

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Speaker 3: to be true based upon you know, what we were told.

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Speaker 4: But we didn't never made a big deal about that.

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Speaker 3: It's not really the point, but just in case people

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Speaker 3: are saying, well, your son, you know, came in and

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Speaker 3: grabbed this gun. No, this gun was put in his

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Speaker 3: hand multiple times. It's quite likely that he did not

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Speaker 3: shoot himself. And it's not really a big deal to

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Speaker 3: me either way. But if that father had taken you know,

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Speaker 3: ten seconds to lock up his guns, and I would

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Speaker 3: recommend a gun safe versus you know, lock and key,

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Speaker 3: because keys are just you have to keep track of him.

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Speaker 3: It's so much easier to have a pin code safe.

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Speaker 3: It's so common these days. That could save your child's life.

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Speaker 3: So I was trying to say, dad to dad, you know.

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Speaker 3: And the funny thing is, you know, eighty five ninety

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Speaker 3: percent of the gun owners that I know, I know,

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Speaker 3: maybe about twenty they're like, it's a no brainer.

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Speaker 4: I'm gonna locke.

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Speaker 1: What about the people that say, now, what do you

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Speaker 1: say to them?

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Speaker 3: Well, the first thing I always do is open a

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Speaker 3: gun safe in front of them biometric and then pin

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Speaker 3: and I just say that's really the inconvenience there, and

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Speaker 3: I'll buy it.

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Speaker 2: And you do this on your website, right so people

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Speaker 2: can see this, because I think I've seen videos of

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Speaker 2: you opening it and I mean it literally is just

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Speaker 2: sticking your finger on it and there it is.

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Speaker 3: That's if you see me and I look a little

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Speaker 3: angry on a video or social media and you will.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you have a little bit.

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Speaker 3: I'm not gonna lie, I know, and I'm sorry if

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Speaker 3: I get a little worked up, but it's hey, that

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Speaker 3: would have saved my kid's life, you know, And it's

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Speaker 3: really a great as I say, it's I think.

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Speaker 4: It's a win win.

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Speaker 3: We can look at the technology and go, let's let's

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Speaker 3: get get a gun safe. And that's where we want

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Speaker 3: to start the conversation with Republican legislators whant to say,

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Speaker 3: let's start with a tax credit, get some gun safes

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Speaker 3: out there. You know, if we say seventy five million bucks,

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Speaker 3: you know, we spend trillions of dollars, you know on everything.

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Speaker 3: If we if we just put out there a tax

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Speaker 3: credit and just a law that says, look, you got

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Speaker 3: little kids in your home, we can agree on what

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Speaker 3: that age is going to be, under sixteen, under seventeen,

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Speaker 3: and let's not let's not let's take the guns out

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Speaker 3: of their reach, because because kids do make mistakes.

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Speaker 2: Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on

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Speaker 2: the Tutor Dixon Podcast. Why isn't it a bigger conversation?

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Speaker 2: I mean, why if you, like I said, I was

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Speaker 2: at a gun training and there was an NRA per

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Speaker 2: connected person there and at the end of the gun

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Speaker 2: training is you know the here, you're safes there? I mean,

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Speaker 2: but they're not inexpensive. So if you're if you are

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Speaker 2: in Detroit and you're a woman buying a gun, you

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Speaker 2: may be putting all your money into that.

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Speaker 1: So why isn't there some opportunity for.

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Speaker 2: If the NA supports this, some of these groups support it,

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Speaker 2: Why isn't there like a hey, with your membership, you

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Speaker 2: could get this, or you know, people coming together. Is

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Speaker 2: there something in the works for that so that it

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Speaker 2: becomes less of a barrier and more I mean, I

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Speaker 2: get the tax credit, but that's something that you're really

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Speaker 2: seeing at the end of the year.

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Speaker 1: Is there something that could be done to.

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Speaker 2: Do something ahead of time because there will be critics

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Speaker 2: who will say this law will only come in after

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Speaker 2: somebody has already died.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I think there's a couple of things

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Speaker 3: great ideas in there.

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Speaker 4: Tutor.

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Speaker 3: First of all, we do a gun Safe Giveaway. You know,

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Speaker 3: we offer to buy back guns for people who just

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Speaker 3: to have a gun stored in their home they're never

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Speaker 3: going to use and kids running around, and we hit

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Speaker 3: the most amazing stories on that. And what happens is

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Speaker 3: a lot of people bring a gun in because parent

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Speaker 3: has dementia, grand parent has dementia. They find unsecured guns

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Speaker 3: in the home. They're like, let's just bring them in.

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Speaker 3: We'll get fifty bucks for the gun. And you know,

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Speaker 3: it's our way of sort of just taking it out

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Speaker 3: of direct circulation, and it takes it right from a

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Speaker 3: very dangerous situation into a very safe situation. The Safe Giveaway, though,

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Speaker 3: is I'm even more excited about because we have the

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Speaker 3: best conversations with gun owners.

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Speaker 4: They come in.

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Speaker 3: They just have to show their card, you know, the

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Speaker 3: card that shows that their licensed or whatever they have,

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Speaker 3: and then they which we don't record, by the way,

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Speaker 3: and then they get a free gun safe. And we've

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Speaker 3: been doing that for four years now and it's incredibly popular.

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Speaker 3: It's a great idea. Some of the manufacturers like Dick's

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Speaker 3: Sporting Goods even are giving those safe set costs.

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Speaker 4: So it's a really great.

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Speaker 3: You know, hey, let's unite around this issue type of

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Speaker 3: an event. So there are some things being done, and

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Speaker 3: the Connecticut model is one of the first in the

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Speaker 3: nation where we did it statewide. And I think that's

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Speaker 3: a great state wide initial to bipartisan statewide initiative. Let's

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Speaker 3: let's work with law enforcement to bring the guns in

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Speaker 3: and but more importantly give this get the safes out,

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Speaker 3: you know. And I think that's less controversial to get

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Speaker 3: the safes out there. So there's just a lot we

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Speaker 3: could do to work together to make sure that high,

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Speaker 3: the higher and higher percentage of the four hundred million

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Speaker 3: guns in the country or you know, whatever that number is,

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Speaker 3: are secured with especially the ones.

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Speaker 4: Of these kids in the home.

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Speaker 2: Would your law say that everyone has to have a

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Speaker 2: secured their gun secured or are you saying if there

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Speaker 2: are children in the home, then it has to be secured.

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Speaker 4: You know.

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Speaker 3: Ethan's law was primarily for you know, when there's kids

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Speaker 3: in the home, guns should be secured. But the laws

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Speaker 3: can continue on beyond that where they say, look, if

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Speaker 3: you have a gun, it should be secured.

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Speaker 4: You know.

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Speaker 3: From my perspective, I think that I'd rather start with

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Speaker 3: just homes with children in them, with unsecured guns, because

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Speaker 3: I think that's the biggest area of need. It's my personal,

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Speaker 3: you know thing to say. Most most states in the

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Speaker 3: country don't have any law, but states like Texas and Florida,

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Speaker 3: in some red states and New Mexico just put a

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Speaker 3: law out there saying, yeah, kids in the home, you know,

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Speaker 3: lockguns down. That's been my message from day one. Kids around,

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Speaker 3: lockguns down. If a state wants to go further than that,

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Speaker 3: they can. But I think that secured weapons are safe weapons.

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Speaker 3: I mean that's something that I get from all my

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Speaker 3: military friends. They're all trained in safe storage. So I

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Speaker 3: think that's really important. And the law can kick in

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Speaker 3: prior to a tragedy happening. I think it's a great comment.

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Speaker 3: People sometimes makes what you're waiting for a tragedy to

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Speaker 3: happen and then a law kicks in. That's kind of

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Speaker 3: how most laws work. You break the law and then

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Speaker 3: you know, then people become aware of that there were

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Speaker 3: unsecured guns there. But there is like a penalty of

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Speaker 3: I think it's five hundred dollars and law enforcement offer

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Speaker 3: sir walks in the home and sees an unsecured gun

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Speaker 3: kids close by. Maybe it's a domestic abuse type situation.

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Speaker 3: But this gun is right near some kids. They can

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Speaker 3: basically say, hey, look, we're going to charge you with

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Speaker 3: this penalty because you've got little kids unsecured guns. And

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Speaker 3: it's a really dangerous mix.

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Speaker 2: What about the people that say, well, this is a

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Speaker 2: slippery slope if you have to register your gun and

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Speaker 2: you're going to have people doing like random gun checks

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Speaker 2: at your house and coming in and saying, you know, you.

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Speaker 1: Can no longer have a gun.

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Speaker 2: I think there's a fear that once you have a

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Speaker 2: law like this in place, then it goes a little

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Speaker 2: bit further.

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Speaker 4: You know.

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Speaker 3: The slippery slope argument, you know, for me is I

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Speaker 3: understand it. There's incremental ism in anything in life. But

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Speaker 3: on the flip side of it, you know, we've got

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Speaker 3: over forty thousand people dying each year from gun desk.

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Speaker 3: This is a great, I think opportunity for bipartisanship, which

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Speaker 3: is what happened in Connecticut. Interestingly, it became a very

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Speaker 3: bipartisan issue. And yeah, I think that the it's a

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Speaker 3: lot like I would say, smoke detectors in your house.

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Speaker 3: You know, we don't have door to door people going

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Speaker 3: incrementally looking farther and farther into your house for your

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Speaker 3: smoke detectors to be not installed correctly.

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Speaker 4: They just say, look by code.

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Speaker 3: If you this house burns to the ground and five

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Speaker 3: people die in your house and you were like, no

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Speaker 3: need for smoke detectors, that's not a big issue, then

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Speaker 3: I think you would be liable for that, and that's

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Speaker 3: the kind of penalty would be. But the incrementalism to

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Speaker 3: say they're going to be going through our stuff, you know,

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Speaker 3: it's one of the few laws I think that's not

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Speaker 3: polarizing because essentially what we're saying is securing your weapons

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Speaker 3: helps you hold on to them, also helps when there's

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Speaker 3: a burglary.

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Speaker 4: That means secured in any way.

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Speaker 2: To your point, there is that week where it's changed

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Speaker 2: the batteries and your fire detector right and change, and.

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Speaker 1: You see that everywhere you see commercials.

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Speaker 2: It's like a whole education campaign and that's to save

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Speaker 2: lives that you're constantly. I mean there's billboards on the

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Speaker 2: street make sure you change the batteries in your fire

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Speaker 2: alart or your fire detector in the house. So will

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Speaker 2: there be some sort of education campaign on this as well?

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Speaker 2: I mean, even if you don't pass these laws in states.

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Speaker 2: I think there are a lot of people that just

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Speaker 2: don't even understand what's available out there, or the dangers,

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Speaker 2: or know the numbers. I mean, I talk to one

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Speaker 2: of our Republican legislators here in the state of Michigan,

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Speaker 2: and he said, you know, we have a few kids

438
00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:09,040
Speaker 2: die every year like this in the state of Michigan.

439
00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:13,040
Speaker 2: How many children die across the country because there was

440
00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:14,280
Speaker 2: a gun that wasn't secured.

441
00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,399
Speaker 3: Yeah, And you know, that's a really it's a great

442
00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:19,399
Speaker 3: question to ask. And I think directly, if you look

443
00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:21,359
Speaker 3: at the direct numbers, I mean, a kid probably dies

444
00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:24,400
Speaker 3: every day in America due to an unsecured gun by

445
00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:27,879
Speaker 3: an accident like Ethan's accident. But far more concerning are

446
00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:30,239
Speaker 3: the kids that die from a suicide because when you

447
00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:33,160
Speaker 3: put a gun into the mix and a suicide sidal kid,

448
00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:38,199
Speaker 3: that's really scary because that's I think it flips the

449
00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:40,080
Speaker 3: odds that they're really going to die. So if kids

450
00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:43,720
Speaker 3: try to kill themselves through many many other means, they

451
00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:46,439
Speaker 3: take too many sleeping pills or something like that, you know,

452
00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,160
Speaker 3: there's a very high percentage rate that those kids get rescued.

453
00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:52,200
Speaker 4: Not that that isn't a very scary thing with a gun.

454
00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:54,560
Speaker 4: It's one and done. With a gun, it's just over.

455
00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:55,800
Speaker 4: It's over so fast.

456
00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:59,719
Speaker 3: And teen suicide is such a problem because it's episodic.

457
00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:02,040
Speaker 4: Kids can have their worst couple of weeks of school.

458
00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:03,960
Speaker 3: They don't want to tell their parents about it because

459
00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:06,840
Speaker 3: they've been humiliated by someone at school. And there's two

460
00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,040
Speaker 3: things that sometimes happen when that happens. The kid goes

461
00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:11,320
Speaker 3: to school with a gun, and seventy six percent of

462
00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:13,760
Speaker 3: the time they're taking their famili's gun. In this was

463
00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:16,800
Speaker 3: done under the great research done under the Trump in

464
00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:19,639
Speaker 3: the Trump years, they said how many how many these

465
00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:22,320
Speaker 3: school shootings are happening with a family gun when there's

466
00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:25,560
Speaker 3: a teenager involved. It's seventy six percent of the time

467
00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:31,000
Speaker 3: they're getting that gun from home because it wasn't secured.

468
00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:34,280
Speaker 3: And so I think that's a great So there's four

469
00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:37,920
Speaker 3: things that really occur. There's the accidental, unintentional type deaths,

470
00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:41,240
Speaker 3: you could say, there's the suicides, which are huge. There's

471
00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:43,480
Speaker 3: the school shootings which we see every day. Wouldn't we

472
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:45,320
Speaker 3: all just like to see that news not on the

473
00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:48,119
Speaker 3: front page of you know, not on the lead story

474
00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:50,040
Speaker 3: on the news. And the third one that's kind of

475
00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:53,480
Speaker 3: interesting too is the guns are stolen at an astonishing

476
00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:56,120
Speaker 3: rate in this country. I think two hundred thousand guns

477
00:20:56,119 --> 00:20:58,639
Speaker 3: are stolen each year, two hundred thousand, so over a

478
00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,320
Speaker 3: period a decade, that's two million guns. And that's a

479
00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:05,479
Speaker 3: direct transfer from a law abiding citizens home to a

480
00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:09,480
Speaker 3: criminal's hand. I mean, it's directs that's fueling a lot

481
00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:11,719
Speaker 3: of I think violence that happens out there. So those

482
00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:15,320
Speaker 3: are four things that safe storage addresses kind of at

483
00:21:15,359 --> 00:21:18,880
Speaker 3: a root cause. I love the idea of reinforcing our schools,

484
00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:21,200
Speaker 3: but sometimes if we just made it harder for the

485
00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:24,320
Speaker 3: kid to get the gun at home, they maybe they

486
00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:27,359
Speaker 3: wouldn't kill themselves or go to school and terrorize and

487
00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:29,639
Speaker 3: kill people there, and that would make I think the

488
00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:30,440
Speaker 3: world a better place.

489
00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:35,520
Speaker 2: So what kind of education campaign can be done? Because I,

490
00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,240
Speaker 2: like I said, as a mom who is living in

491
00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:40,679
Speaker 2: a house that doesn't have guns, I think too often

492
00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,200
Speaker 2: I can be lulled into well, it's not at my house,

493
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:47,199
Speaker 2: you know, And so oftentimes I also think that the

494
00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:49,960
Speaker 2: people who are in that situation, there are people in

495
00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:53,240
Speaker 2: that situation who I believe can be very staunch defenders

496
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:57,000
Speaker 2: of the Second Amendment not having lived that experience, and

497
00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:00,399
Speaker 2: maybe this comes up for a vote or they're has

498
00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:02,680
Speaker 2: to vote on it, and they're not so active because

499
00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:04,639
Speaker 2: they go, well, it's not going to happen in my house.

500
00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,240
Speaker 2: It's not my problem. I'm not going to get involved.

501
00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:10,920
Speaker 2: But that could have been you. I mean, you could

502
00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,439
Speaker 2: be in that same situation. I mean, you really it

503
00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:16,200
Speaker 2: wasn't your house. So what do you say to those

504
00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:19,439
Speaker 2: parents who are saying, I don't know enough about this,

505
00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:22,080
Speaker 2: so I'm not going to get involved because the drama

506
00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:24,159
Speaker 2: is too great on either side, And how do you

507
00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:24,880
Speaker 2: educate them?

508
00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:29,720
Speaker 3: Well, you're asking a fantastic question. I think the challenge

509
00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:32,639
Speaker 3: of doing this is I'm just a realist, and I

510
00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:34,439
Speaker 3: know that it's awkward for people to say, hey, do

511
00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:35,480
Speaker 3: you have any guns in your house?

512
00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:36,640
Speaker 4: And you're really sloppy.

513
00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:38,399
Speaker 3: About the way you secure these guns, Like are you

514
00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:40,040
Speaker 3: one of those people who has a loaded gun on

515
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,520
Speaker 3: your nightstand? That's a difficult in reality, that's a difficult

516
00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:45,919
Speaker 3: question for people to ask. In theory, it's exactly what

517
00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:49,199
Speaker 3: we should ask as parents. So what I often encourage

518
00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:50,639
Speaker 3: people to do is say, hey, listen, you know my

519
00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:54,359
Speaker 3: kids are super curious. They you know, they've seen lots

520
00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:56,639
Speaker 3: of movies where people are shooting guns, and lots of

521
00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:59,560
Speaker 3: video games where people are shooting guns. And I just

522
00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:02,320
Speaker 3: always try to ask, hey, listen, are the guns secured,

523
00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:05,880
Speaker 3: because you know, we know that our kids are curious,

524
00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:08,800
Speaker 3: and all kids are curious. I try to always lead

525
00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:12,280
Speaker 3: with that because it's honestly a you know, a great

526
00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:14,240
Speaker 3: thing to do, and it's less like, hey, I think

527
00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:17,320
Speaker 3: you're you know, not securing these guns in your house, right.

528
00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:19,639
Speaker 2: Because you would think that you could really offend someone

529
00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:21,320
Speaker 2: by saying, oh, you want to have a plate date

530
00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:24,320
Speaker 2: with my kid, let's go through your safety procedures before

531
00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:26,480
Speaker 2: my kids are allowed to come to your house. And

532
00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:28,560
Speaker 2: that I mean, but I do want to say that.

533
00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:30,159
Speaker 2: I just want to know how to say it.

534
00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:32,800
Speaker 3: Yeah, And so I've always recommend saying, look, my kid's

535
00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,080
Speaker 3: very curious, and if you have anything that's unsecured, I

536
00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,080
Speaker 3: would recommend, like I'd always recommend just you know, making

537
00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:41,399
Speaker 3: sure they're keep an eye on them and that, you know,

538
00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:44,800
Speaker 3: if you have guns or things like that, if they're secured.

539
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:46,920
Speaker 3: I think it's it's also great to try to find

540
00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:48,520
Speaker 3: out what their interests. If you happen to know they're

541
00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:50,040
Speaker 3: into hunting, and you happen to know they're in a

542
00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:52,600
Speaker 3: skeet shooting or just going to the range, you know, hey,

543
00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:55,600
Speaker 3: strike up a conversation around that and then say, hey,

544
00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:58,520
Speaker 3: just out of curiosity, I know some kid named Ethan

545
00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:01,719
Speaker 3: got killed recently. You know, you know I always say,

546
00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:03,639
Speaker 3: use my son, just say there was a kid named Ethan.

547
00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:05,440
Speaker 4: He was just a curious kid.

548
00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:08,680
Speaker 3: And you know, sometimes tragedies can happen when guns aren't secured.

549
00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:10,560
Speaker 3: I think it's a great thing for parents to do,

550
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:12,239
Speaker 3: just to get it out in the open. And if

551
00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:14,080
Speaker 3: you are a gun over, here's an even better thing.

552
00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:16,119
Speaker 3: If you're a gun owner and you secure your guns.

553
00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:17,439
Speaker 3: It's great to let people know that too.

554
00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:18,159
Speaker 4: Hey we've got.

555
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:20,000
Speaker 3: Guns in the house, you know what, but they're secured.

556
00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:22,879
Speaker 3: We've got them locked up tight. The kids don't have

557
00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:25,760
Speaker 3: the pin code safe number, so your kids are safe

558
00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:28,480
Speaker 3: playing here. I think we can all start the discussion together.

559
00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:31,840
Speaker 3: We can all work together to reduce those gun deaths.

560
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:34,959
Speaker 2: But how do you get that message out to parents

561
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,560
Speaker 2: that that's even a conversation that you should have, Because,

562
00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:40,840
Speaker 2: like I said, the parents who don't live this and

563
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,240
Speaker 2: don't have guns in their house and don't think about

564
00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:45,119
Speaker 2: the fact that their kids go to another house that

565
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,760
Speaker 2: could have an unsecured gun. What kind of education campaign

566
00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:53,160
Speaker 2: can go out there to say, Hey, this happened, there's

567
00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,600
Speaker 2: this law we're talking about. This is why we think

568
00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,119
Speaker 2: it's important for you, even though you may think it

569
00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:00,320
Speaker 2: doesn't touch your life.

570
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:05,920
Speaker 3: Yeah, we are actually working on an educational campaign or

571
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:09,280
Speaker 3: an educational uh sort of syllabus basically that will take

572
00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:12,560
Speaker 3: kids very quickly through you know, gun safety one oh

573
00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,440
Speaker 3: one for kids. So at the kid level, we're trying

574
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:17,320
Speaker 3: to show them how how dangerous this can be and

575
00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:18,800
Speaker 3: hit them with it a few times as they go

576
00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:21,439
Speaker 3: through K through twelve, right, so they can start to

577
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:24,360
Speaker 3: really see how serious this is. So the first thing

578
00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:26,640
Speaker 3: we think is that there should be some type of education,

579
00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:28,720
Speaker 3: not a it doesn't have to be a huge number

580
00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:30,720
Speaker 3: of hours they go through, but I think it should

581
00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:32,760
Speaker 3: also be regular, repeated So you know.

582
00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:35,080
Speaker 2: You would you see that as something that could be

583
00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:36,080
Speaker 2: in schools.

584
00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:38,840
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I think I think we'd love to partner,

585
00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:41,760
Speaker 3: you know, with this bill. We think there's I like

586
00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:43,480
Speaker 3: the I like the three things that would be great

587
00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:45,840
Speaker 3: to have, and you know, this bill would be money

588
00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:49,359
Speaker 3: to roll this out with education for all the states. Uh,

589
00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:52,000
Speaker 3: some type of incentive for people to buy a gun safe,

590
00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:54,119
Speaker 3: and then a penalty. You know, I do think you

591
00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:55,920
Speaker 3: need a stick to go with the carrot, some type

592
00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:58,359
Speaker 3: of penalty like Ethan's Law that says, listen, if a

593
00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:00,240
Speaker 3: kid is killed in your house and you left your

594
00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:02,600
Speaker 3: gun on the nightstand for you know, day after day

595
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:05,920
Speaker 3: after day, and you know you had you had five

596
00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:08,520
Speaker 3: kids who are eight years old in your house and

597
00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:10,720
Speaker 3: you didn't secure that weapon, Yeah, you could pay a

598
00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:13,040
Speaker 3: penalty because I think you do need a deterrent for

599
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:15,679
Speaker 3: those folks who think that's a really good thing to do.

600
00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:18,600
Speaker 3: And that was troubling when we talked to some legislators.

601
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:21,520
Speaker 3: They were like, oh, I purposefully leave my loaded gun

602
00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:25,120
Speaker 3: on my nightstand and you know, and I just said,

603
00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:27,080
Speaker 3: do your kids ever have nightmares company your room or

604
00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:28,480
Speaker 3: you know, well, we've.

605
00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:30,040
Speaker 1: Seen people post pictures of it though.

606
00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:32,840
Speaker 2: We've seen people on social media say this is what

607
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:33,840
Speaker 2: my bedroom looks like.

608
00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:34,720
Speaker 1: I've seen that.

609
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:38,440
Speaker 2: And and then there's that knowledge that those guns are

610
00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:40,879
Speaker 2: just there and they are open to the public and

611
00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:44,159
Speaker 2: in some cases those are folks that have kids. So

612
00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:47,679
Speaker 2: I'm I mean, having run for office and seen what

613
00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:51,200
Speaker 2: it's like. I mean, there is pressure certainly on one

614
00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:53,399
Speaker 2: side to say you want all the laws, on the

615
00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:55,919
Speaker 2: other side to say you don't want the laws. And

616
00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:59,840
Speaker 2: you know, either way this becomes a political issue for you.

617
00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:03,119
Speaker 1: It's not a political issue, And I just I.

618
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:06,359
Speaker 2: Think that again, I just think that if there were

619
00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:08,720
Speaker 2: a way to get this out on the airwaves in

620
00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:11,760
Speaker 2: a bigger way, to say this is how easy it

621
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:13,080
Speaker 2: is to have this.

622
00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:13,960
Speaker 1: On your nightstand.

623
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:15,840
Speaker 2: But then I've also had people, because I've had this

624
00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:18,679
Speaker 2: conversation with folks and you know, knowing that you were

625
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:20,399
Speaker 2: going to come on the podcast, try to talk to

626
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:21,840
Speaker 2: people about it, and they say, well, how are you

627
00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:23,919
Speaker 2: How do you prevent people from saying, well, this is

628
00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:26,919
Speaker 2: very racist because you don't live in a neighborhood where

629
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:28,840
Speaker 2: they're going to they have to you have to grab

630
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,400
Speaker 2: a gun on this edge of your nightstand every night.

631
00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:34,439
Speaker 2: But you might have people in an inner city that

632
00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:37,320
Speaker 2: absolutely have to have that gun. But also I would

633
00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,680
Speaker 2: kind of argue, well, we also see an upticking kids

634
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:44,240
Speaker 2: that get guns and have mistakes in those areas as well,

635
00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:46,400
Speaker 2: So what do you say to the people who say

636
00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:47,919
Speaker 2: this isn't fair to certain communities.

637
00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:51,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, I always just go back to the idea that

638
00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:53,560
Speaker 3: the new technology, you can open it at the speed

639
00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:57,280
Speaker 3: of a smartphone, and I think that is a win win. So,

640
00:27:57,359 --> 00:27:59,000
Speaker 3: first of all, like I open a lot of safes

641
00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:01,360
Speaker 3: on TV, because I think I still and what part

642
00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:02,879
Speaker 3: of that educational campaign.

643
00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:03,960
Speaker 4: For adults would just be show easy it is to

644
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:04,800
Speaker 4: open a gun safe.

645
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:06,800
Speaker 3: I think I don't know that that's common knowledge.

646
00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:08,800
Speaker 4: I still get a lot of people going it. I didn't.

647
00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:10,320
Speaker 4: I didn't quite realize they were that easy.

648
00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:12,240
Speaker 3: And you know, I know what it's like to fumble

649
00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:14,560
Speaker 3: for a key and those old combination locks that I

650
00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:15,840
Speaker 3: had up in my attic. You know, I had all

651
00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:18,320
Speaker 3: my papers up there and jewelry and you're like, h

652
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:20,480
Speaker 3: three to the left those it's that's all gone.

653
00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:22,280
Speaker 4: It's like tick tick boom, it's open. You know.

654
00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:25,280
Speaker 3: So I think that's really important. But yeah, I would

655
00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:28,480
Speaker 3: just say that it's so easy for a kid to

656
00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:30,880
Speaker 3: grab a gun, and a kid's natural instinct just from

657
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:32,720
Speaker 3: watching and you know, he could blame it a little

658
00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:33,600
Speaker 3: bit on the media too.

659
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:34,800
Speaker 4: It's it's it's.

660
00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:37,040
Speaker 3: So many shows start off with someone just pointing a

661
00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:39,800
Speaker 3: gun and pulling the trigger. That when little particularly little boys,

662
00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:42,000
Speaker 3: grab a gun, you see it a lot in there.

663
00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:45,320
Speaker 3: You know, boys are a higher percentage rate of these

664
00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:49,040
Speaker 3: these problems. They they have a natural instinct to point

665
00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:49,920
Speaker 3: it and pull that trigger.

666
00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:52,880
Speaker 2: Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on

667
00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:59,800
Speaker 2: the Tutor Dixon Podcast. I've had friends that say, well,

668
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,120
Speaker 2: we we don't even let them have NERF guns. I

669
00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:04,920
Speaker 2: think there are people who have lulled themselves into a

670
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:08,239
Speaker 2: false sense of security that my child knows guns are

671
00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:10,720
Speaker 2: bad and not to get near it. But that could

672
00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:13,200
Speaker 2: always that can still always happen to you. I mean

673
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:16,520
Speaker 2: it's like, you know, kids are it's their natural instinct

674
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:18,560
Speaker 2: to pick up a baby doll in rocket, it's their

675
00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:20,880
Speaker 2: natural instinct to pick up a gun and fire it.

676
00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:24,280
Speaker 2: Those are just things that you innately know you can do,

677
00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:26,240
Speaker 2: and that temptation is there.

678
00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:27,720
Speaker 4: It really is.

679
00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:29,880
Speaker 3: And I you know, this is something that I've said

680
00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:32,520
Speaker 3: to legislators who really pushed back very very hard on

681
00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:34,400
Speaker 3: this and say I'm happy that my twelve year old kid,

682
00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:36,800
Speaker 3: and there is a legislator in Texas has said I

683
00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:38,520
Speaker 3: keep my I got twelve year old KDS in the house.

684
00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:41,160
Speaker 3: I keep these guns right here, and you know they're loaded.

685
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:41,880
Speaker 4: They're right here.

686
00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:44,440
Speaker 3: Anyone could grab them, but you know they won't do

687
00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:46,560
Speaker 3: that because you know I told them not to. And

688
00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:48,680
Speaker 3: I always tell them, hey, look after we get you know,

689
00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:50,280
Speaker 3: after we spar and we go with it and we

690
00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:52,840
Speaker 3: not cant to just say, you know, hey, listen, just

691
00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,640
Speaker 3: as a dad, you know, I realized that you know

692
00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:57,960
Speaker 3: this is your issue and you really you're dug in here.

693
00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:00,600
Speaker 3: But just honestly, I would get a gun and not

694
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,520
Speaker 3: have your loaded gun on your nightstand. I just just

695
00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:06,880
Speaker 3: as a father to a father, you know, I'm not like, hey,

696
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:09,280
Speaker 3: I lost the argument, but maybe privately, if I were

697
00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:11,480
Speaker 3: to tell you, just don't. You don't want to be

698
00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:12,120
Speaker 3: in this position.

699
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:12,880
Speaker 4: It's horrible.

700
00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:15,480
Speaker 3: It's horrible to lose a child have his head literally,

701
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,160
Speaker 3: you know, blown off his body. Is what happened to

702
00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:21,480
Speaker 3: my kid, and it's breaks my heart every day. But

703
00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:24,640
Speaker 3: can you imagine if I had left that gun there myself,

704
00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:27,400
Speaker 3: how I would feel? Oh my gosh, I would be

705
00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:30,160
Speaker 3: just it would be I don't know, I mean, I

706
00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:31,760
Speaker 3: don't know if I could go on if I had

707
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:35,560
Speaker 3: put that gun into my kid's hand by just leaving

708
00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:39,400
Speaker 3: it out, you know. So there's only one group of

709
00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:43,080
Speaker 3: parents that you know, like we always say, nobody wants

710
00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:45,200
Speaker 3: to be us tutor. Nobody wants to be the parent

711
00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:47,640
Speaker 3: that's lost the child at a young age of fifteen.

712
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:51,000
Speaker 3: There's one group of people that would envy us, and

713
00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,040
Speaker 3: that would be folks who sort of set up the

714
00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,880
Speaker 3: circumstances where their own child, you know, shot a sibling,

715
00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:59,719
Speaker 3: shot you know, another person, or killed themselves by suicide

716
00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:02,160
Speaker 3: because they thought, oh, I told them not to touch

717
00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:03,480
Speaker 3: that gun and then they did.

718
00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:05,520
Speaker 4: So I'm not trying to.

719
00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,280
Speaker 2: You know, be about your situation of the man who

720
00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:10,920
Speaker 2: owns the security company.

721
00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:12,760
Speaker 1: I mean, that's what you do for a living. You

722
00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:15,840
Speaker 1: have to. It's at some point feel like I've had

723
00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:16,600
Speaker 1: this conversation.

724
00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:18,960
Speaker 2: My kids know better, And I think that's another thing,

725
00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:21,880
Speaker 2: to be honest, Just today, I think we are giving

726
00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:24,560
Speaker 2: kids way too much credit because we believe that kids

727
00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:27,720
Speaker 2: understand consequence. But we know the science behind that is

728
00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:30,520
Speaker 2: that they really don't understand consequences until they are in

729
00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:33,360
Speaker 2: their twenties. And so as many times as you've had

730
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:36,600
Speaker 2: this conversation with your child, how many other conversations have

731
00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:38,520
Speaker 2: you had with your kids that they just go out

732
00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:40,520
Speaker 2: and they do it anyway, and you're like, we've already

733
00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:42,480
Speaker 2: talked about this. You knew you were going to get hurt,

734
00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:46,440
Speaker 2: but you did this anyway. This prevents that from even starting.

735
00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:49,160
Speaker 2: And I just think that it's something that people on

736
00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:51,800
Speaker 2: both sides really need to think about because it can

737
00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:53,080
Speaker 2: happen to anyone.

738
00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:56,000
Speaker 3: Well, you know, I just really appreciate you saying that,

739
00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:58,600
Speaker 3: because it's hard to understand that. You know, when a

740
00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:02,960
Speaker 3: kid's fifteen, they're their brain isn't really fully formed and structured.

741
00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:04,960
Speaker 3: You're absolutely right, and then you get I guess what

742
00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:07,040
Speaker 3: they call it executive function. You start to just make

743
00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:09,840
Speaker 3: better decisions. And that's why parents, like I'm a big

744
00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:13,880
Speaker 3: believer in parental control of your household. Your a parent

745
00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:15,880
Speaker 3: is in charge of your kids. The kids, not in

746
00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:17,960
Speaker 3: charge of the house. The parents in charge of the house.

747
00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:21,320
Speaker 3: Like all of those discipline you know, you know, focusing

748
00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:23,600
Speaker 3: like a laser beam on your kids, making sure that

749
00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:26,000
Speaker 3: they walk the walk, you know, they don't just say yeah,

750
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,760
Speaker 3: I'll do it. Those are really critically important. But if

751
00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,840
Speaker 3: you've got a fifteen year old child and you think

752
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:35,000
Speaker 3: they're perfect. I always try to say, you know, like

753
00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:38,160
Speaker 3: I know that Dick Cheney was a smart guys made

754
00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:40,720
Speaker 3: it to Vice president of the United States, he was a

755
00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:44,480
Speaker 3: strategic person, obviously very brilliant, and even I'm sure a

756
00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:47,480
Speaker 3: very safety conscious person with his guns, and as sure

757
00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:50,040
Speaker 3: he was a lifelong member of the NRA, he still

758
00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:52,080
Speaker 3: managed to make a mistake that led to someone being

759
00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:56,200
Speaker 3: shot in his proximity. And I'm not saying that like

760
00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:58,800
Speaker 3: Dick Cheney is a horrible human being. What I'm saying is,

761
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:02,479
Speaker 3: you know, even adults make this kind of mistake with guns,

762
00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:05,360
Speaker 3: So why would we expect a twelve or thirteen year

763
00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:06,000
Speaker 3: old kid.

764
00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:07,200
Speaker 4: To be perfect?

765
00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:09,800
Speaker 3: I just you know, I just think that is dangerous

766
00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:11,840
Speaker 3: and I would encourage parents not to view your kids

767
00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:15,520
Speaker 3: that way. I make mistakes, we all make mistakes, and

768
00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:16,720
Speaker 3: kids make mistakes.

769
00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:19,520
Speaker 1: Well, thank you, I appreciate you coming on.

770
00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:22,640
Speaker 2: Honestly, I saw one of your I actually saw one

771
00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:25,000
Speaker 2: of your videos on social media, and it was a

772
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:28,360
Speaker 2: moment for me where I went, I don't know what

773
00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:31,960
Speaker 2: the girls friends' houses are like, I don't know what

774
00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:35,000
Speaker 2: they're doing when it comes to their guns, and man,

775
00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:37,000
Speaker 2: this is a different way for me to view it,

776
00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:39,000
Speaker 2: and I just felt like, I really need to talk

777
00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:41,360
Speaker 2: about this, and I'm so grateful that you are so

778
00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:44,360
Speaker 2: willing to come out, you and both you and your wife,

779
00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:46,600
Speaker 2: Mike and Kristen Song. You can look them up, look

780
00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:48,560
Speaker 2: up the and tell us where to look up the

781
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:51,360
Speaker 2: organization so people can see. Because I just think it's

782
00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:53,320
Speaker 2: so impressive that you are willing to go out and

783
00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:55,720
Speaker 2: talk about this so openly and makes your parents know.

784
00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:58,560
Speaker 3: Oh, thank you, It's been so wonderful spending time with you.

785
00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:02,880
Speaker 3: It's song strong forward slash map. You can see a

786
00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:05,440
Speaker 3: video of me opening a safe there, and the map

787
00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:07,240
Speaker 3: is that we looked at all fifty states in the

788
00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:09,640
Speaker 3: country just to see what they'd done for this, and

789
00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:14,000
Speaker 3: Texas and Florida have you know, modest you know, gun

790
00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:17,680
Speaker 3: storage laws in place, so it's not necessarily a you know,

791
00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:20,719
Speaker 3: a blue versus red thing. I think there's there's room

792
00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:22,960
Speaker 3: in the middle here where we can get something going.

793
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:24,880
Speaker 3: But it would be amazing if we could pass a

794
00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:26,960
Speaker 3: law nationally, because that would take a lot of the

795
00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:30,560
Speaker 3: chaos of having different laws in all different states be

796
00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:33,400
Speaker 3: so different. If we've got some of the red states

797
00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:35,680
Speaker 3: on board already. Maybe we can find someplace in the

798
00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:38,279
Speaker 3: middle we can meet and pass one simple law so

799
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:40,120
Speaker 3: that we can really go out and publicize it, like

800
00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:41,600
Speaker 3: you said, and let every parent know this is a

801
00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:43,880
Speaker 3: good question to ask. Kids know this is a dangerous

802
00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:46,160
Speaker 3: thing to do, and gun owners know, Hey, this is

803
00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:48,520
Speaker 3: not too big of a push in terms of you know,

804
00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:51,400
Speaker 3: getting a gun safe and if anything, will keep your

805
00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:54,680
Speaker 3: gun with you longer when there's a criminal that comes

806
00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:56,399
Speaker 3: into your home trying to steal it. It's at least

807
00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:59,480
Speaker 3: creating another barrier for that to happen, and that's a

808
00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:00,400
Speaker 3: good thing for everyone.

809
00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:03,319
Speaker 2: Well, it's been very interesting. I'm so glad that you

810
00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:06,319
Speaker 2: were here to share. I am sure our listeners got

811
00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:08,120
Speaker 2: a lot out of this. And like I said, or

812
00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:10,160
Speaker 2: like you said, I believe that there is a place

813
00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:13,279
Speaker 2: where people can come together. We've seen it people coming

814
00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:15,879
Speaker 2: across the aisle. We've seen it in Michigan, We've seen

815
00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:17,880
Speaker 2: it in other states. Like you said, we've seen it

816
00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:20,400
Speaker 2: in red states. It shouldn't be a political issue. It

817
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:23,920
Speaker 2: is about our kids, and so I'm always passionate about

818
00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:26,640
Speaker 2: kids having for myself and I appreciate you coming on.

819
00:35:26,719 --> 00:35:27,520
Speaker 1: Thank you so much.

820
00:35:27,719 --> 00:35:29,880
Speaker 2: And thank you all for joining us today on the

821
00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:33,440
Speaker 2: Tutor Dixon Podcast. As always, for this episode and others,

822
00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:37,240
Speaker 2: go to tutordisonpodcast dot com. You can subscribe right there,

823
00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:41,040
Speaker 2: or check out the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

824
00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:43,680
Speaker 2: you get your podcasts and join us the next time

825
00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:45,000
Speaker 2: on the Tutor Dixon Podcast.

826
00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:46,160
Speaker 1: Thank you,