Episode Transcript
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(00:05):
The following is brought to youby the committee to protect
healthcare.
Chris (00:10):
In the emergency department, we see real time
consequences of people nothaving access to health care.
Expansion of Medicaid inWisconsin would mean less cases
to the emergency department.
It would prevent closures ofhospitals in our communities,
and most importantly, savelives.
The majority of states in thecountry have expanded Medicaid
with bipartisan support, yetlegislators in Wisconsin are
blocking expansion of Medicaid.
(00:32):
They're blocking the opportunityfor our patients to have a
healthier life.
Tell your legislator to savelives and pass Medicaid
expansion.
this is a CBS News specialreport.
I'm Nora O'Donnell in New Yorkand we are coming on the air
with breaking news with anotherschool shooting this time about
(00:52):
45 miles northeast of Atlanta inBarrow County, Georgia.
Now the local sheriff'sdepartment said a suspect is in
custody and there are reports.
we're also learning three of thefour killed were pronounced dead
at the scene, and another victimdied at the University of
Alabama Birmingham Hospital.
Now, Birmingham police don't yetknow what precipitated this
(01:14):
event murder for hire plot thatled to a mass shooting in
Birmingham.
leadership and tactics andcommunications and training and
in preparedness were made by lawenforcement lawyers and others
(01:34):
responding to the mass shootingat Robb Elementary.
When he went in the classroom,he said, you are all gonna die.
I was playing dead, so he wasshoot me 10-year-old Samuel
Sena, one of the few survivorsfrom his class now recovering
after an injury to his leg.
He shot my teacher and then heshot the kids.
and a teacher.
(01:55):
And in the last 10 days, we'vehad elderly black people killed
in a supermarket in Buffalo.
We've had Asian churchgoerskilled in Southern California.
And now we have childrenmurdered at school.
When are we going to dosomething?
(02:22):
Welcome to pulse check,Wisconsin.
(03:04):
Good morning.
Good evening.
Good afternoon.
Whatever it is for you.
This is Dr.
Chris Ford, again from PulseCheck Wisconsin.
And I wanted to introduce you tothis special series that we'll
be doing.
Here in the month of Octoberleading into November.
In the November elections.
If you guys haven't.
been Paying attention.
(03:25):
There is a large election thatis coming up both nationally, as
well as at the state level.
And so.
The idea for this series is toprovide you some of the key
topics and key issues that aregoing to be affecting your
health In a moment in which itis going to be.
Very conducive for you to beparticipating at a civic level.
(03:48):
Well, we've seen.
Around this time of year is alot of muck racking, or a lot of
you know, name calling and a lotof false information that may be
out there, both on social mediaas well as sometimes in the
media.
Unfortunately.
And what I wanted to do withthis series is to provide you.
Some valid information for, fromkey folks that are involved in
(04:10):
the ground level of a lot ofthese issues.
We'll have on today's episode.
A state representative DebAndraca who is the, state
representative for the 23rdassembly district.
And Deb has been very vocal interms of establishing some forms
of gun control and parametersfor.
(04:32):
The safe acquisition of guns inthe state of Wisconsin.
And so we'll have her on just totalk a little bit about her
experience as both a legislator.
As well as a former educator.
Who, as we all know,unfortunately in modern times,
educators have been faced withthe threat of gun violence in
(04:52):
terms of the plethora of massshootings that we've been
seeing.
We'll also be having on acolleague of mine, Dr.
Megan Schultz.
Dr.
Megan, is a pediatric emergencyphysician and she is also an
advocate for gun control here inthe state of Wisconsin.
She's given many talks and hasdone many articles and the
Milwaukee journal Sentinel.
So I would definitely recommendyou check those out, but more so
(05:16):
her perspective is coming from aprovider who is on the ground
level, taking care of kidsspecifically.
Who have been victims of gunviolence and the toll that, that
takes not only on the communityand on the child and on the
families, but also on her as aprovider as well.
(05:37):
And so again, this entire seriesis going to delve into topics.
That are real life and that aregoing to affect your life day to
day.
And that are all going to be onthe ballot.
This election season.
No.
Time to do a little bit ofhousekeeping.
I'm going to keep it a buck,which, and we'll keep it 100%.
(05:59):
As always here at pulse checkWisconsin.
I want to respect everyone'spolitical views.
I don't pick a side in terms ofadvocating.
One side or the other.
Some of the issues that I talkabout outside of this platform,
you may see me on TV.
You may hear me on the radio.
Or some of the articles that Iwill release.
I usually speak to policyspecific issues.
(06:21):
And again, that's outside ofthis platform.
Now everybody has their ownpolitics.
And I don't think you've got todo a lot of lawn division two.
No where my politics stand, butat the same time, I want to
respect everyone's views.
And I want to give everyone aplatform in order to make their
own decisions.
At the end of the day, we're allWisconsinites and we all want
the best for our children.
(06:43):
And we want to make sure that weall have a say in how our
communities are communities ofinterest.
And how our laws and all theparameters to keep our families
safe and keep our familiesprosperous, want to have a say
in how those things are done andthe best way to do that is not
only to.
Participate civically.
And that's by voting, but alsoto have.
(07:06):
The ability to make purposefulchange in your community.
And so that means that your voteactually counts.
A lot of work that I've done inthe past, including in terms of
any legislative, map creation,we have really advocated for
having maps that are fair andbalanced for.
individuals throughout the stateof Wisconsin.
(07:27):
And for the first time in about12 years, we have that during
this election.
At least at the assembly and thestate Senate level.
So even more so than before, wewant to make sure that our
elections are competitive.
We want to make sure that your.
Voice is heard in theseelections, so.
What I want everyone who isunder the power of my voice to
(07:49):
do right now.
Is too.
Check to see if you areregistered to vote.
Because again, all of thesethings that we're going to talk
about in the next couple.
Episodes are going to be key,hot button topics that are going
to be involving your life andevolving Wisconsinites involving
your neighbors, your parents,your children, everyone.
(08:09):
And I want you to participate.
In that discussion and thosedecisions as well.
And the only way for you to dothat is to make sure that you
are civically engaged and tomake sure that you're voting,
because if you're not voting,then your opinion doesn't count
on paper.
So with that being said, Duringthese short series.
I won't be doing any casereviews, but what I want you to
(08:32):
do is I want you to look at allof the information that I will
post to the website correlatingwith these episodes.
I want you to.
Go to myvotewisconsin.gov tocheck to see if you are
registered to vote.
And I'll post that to thewebsite as well.
So with that being said, This isour first in the series.
(08:56):
This show, and this episode willbe focused around the issue of
gun violence.
As you'll hear from our twoexperts, gun violence is
something that affects all walksof life.
Both here in the state ofWisconsin and throughout the
country.
As you can tell from the intro.
And I got to admit, I've tearedup a little bit.
Hearing the intro.
(09:17):
Being a father, being, justsomeone that, has to live and
work in this world.
In which we have such.
A plethora of mass shootings.
This is something that willaffect everyone who is listening
to this recording.
Whether you're pro gun or prolegislation for gun control,
(09:39):
there is something in thisinterview.
That you can take away andsomething that you can take with
you.
When you're trying to make adecision.
Of who you want to vote for?
How they will vote to act pro oragainst your point of view and
Hope you ask the question.
who should be making thesedecisions.
So with that being said, I won'ttake too much away from Dr.
(10:02):
Schultz Representative Andracathey dropped some truth bombs
here.
So with that being said, let'sgo ahead and start with our
interview with representativeDeb Andraca and Dr.
Megan Schultz.
(10:46):
I'm State Representative DebAndraca.
I am the State Representativefor the 23rd Assembly District.
That includes Whitefish Bay, FoxPoint, Bayside, River Hills,
Brown Deer, Mequon, andTheansville I was first elected
in 2020 and I'm currentlyrunning for a third term.
I'm Megan Schultz.
I am a pediatric emergencyphysician and an associate
(11:07):
professor of pediatrics.
Thanks so much for being with usSo, you know, what we wanted to
do at the very beginning of thisepisode, we kind of gave an
intro just to talk about thelevity of what we're going to
talk about today.
So how commonplace,unfortunately, it has become
this.
epidemic of just gun violence,mass shootings, things like
that.
I was looking over for just alittle bit of research before
(11:30):
today.
And what I found was even lastnight before the day of this
recording, which is September23rd, there was another mass
shooting in Alabama, I believeon the 22nd that I didn't even
hear about.
Right.
And so like, that's just howcommonplace and how saturated
we're becoming.
You know, with this, thishorrible, again, this epidemic
that we're facing with gunviolence just from more so of a
(11:51):
policy standpoint, I'll startwith you, just what is the
general sentiment amongst yourconstituents regarding gun
control and gun violence here inthe state of Wisconsin, as well
as in the country?
Well, Wisconsin ranks about 21out of 50 for gun law strength
in the country.
And we know that states thathave stronger gun control laws
(12:13):
have fewer gun deaths.
So when I decided to run foroffice, I really came to this
through the lens of gettingbetter gun laws in Wisconsin.
I was working as an elementaryschool teacher, and we always
had to do lockdown drills.
And I saw the effect that it washaving on my students and my own
two daughters in school and justreally thought we needed to do
(12:34):
something.
So I started volunteering withMoms Demand Action for Gun
Sense, and one thing led toanother.
So when I ran for office itreally came out of that
experience and being in the cityWhen Governor Evers called a
special session to try to getthe legislature to take up
better gun laws and they gaveledout in a matter of seconds.
(12:55):
So I ran first and foremost ontrying to get better gun laws
and create safer communities.
And I defeated a 14 yearincumbent under gerrymandered
maps.
So as a gauge for where myconstituents stand on it, I
mean, I think that speaks prettypowerfully, and which is why
ever since I've been elected,I've been trying to get better
gun laws.
Absolutely.
(13:15):
And you know, I speak foreveryone in thanking you for
being such a steadfast advocatefor gun control and gun safety
in the state of Wisconsin.
You mentioned a couple groupsthere, you know, moms demand
action, which that in every townare many groups that have
spawned out of this epidemic ofgun violence.
And from some of the statisticsthat I saw.
Recently, since Columbine,which, you know, I was in school
(13:39):
at that time, I remember itvividly, what I was doing that
day in 1999, since that time,417 school shootings have
occurred, and there have beenover 383, 000 students affected
by gun violence and experiencedgun violence since that time,
just to kind of show you thelevity and show you, how far we
have come.
Thank you.
From this event, Columbine beingthe first time that we all
(14:01):
witnessed that, and now it'sjust everyday thing,
unfortunately, Megan, from yourstandpoint, can you describe
your experiences treatingchildren who have been victims
and have been exposed to gunviolence as a pediatric ER
doctor?
Yeah, absolutely.
So.
The gun violence I see almostdaily in a large academic
children's ER tends not to beschool mass shootings.
(14:24):
It tends to be one offs.
So I see accidental shootingswhere, you know, a child finds a
gun in the home and accidentallyshoots themselves.
I see.
Shootings where kids are playingwith a gun inappropriately.
So, you know, a 12 year old at afriend's house for a sleepover
and the house where thesleepover is happening has a gun
and unbeknownst to the parents,the kids play with it and
(14:46):
someone gets shot.
I definitely see sort of drivebys or you know, A barren
shooting that goes through homeceilings and home walls and
harms children.
And then I see targeted shootingalso, where kids are using guns
to express violence toward eachother.
Yeah.
And for all of our listeners,you know, Megan works at what we
(15:08):
call the level one traumacenter.
And so that's usually where allthe pediatric traumas are going
to go.
Usually in any, any largeinstitution.
And so we're very fortunate inMilwaukee and in Wisconsin to
have one of the two pediatriclevel one trauma centers
available.
But it is something that is veryeyeopening and something that is
affecting a lot of our youth.
You know, like Megan was saying,not even from the standpoint of
(15:29):
a mass shooting, But one offshootings and how commonplace
that we're seeing and a lot ofthat is due to some of the
things that we're going to talkabout in terms of our current
gun control laws.
So in getting to that, can youexplain to us just what are the
current gun control laws here instate of Wisconsin and how
effective or ineffective do youbelieve that they are at this
time?
Well, it depends what you're,you're currently talking about
(15:51):
in terms of, you know, whetherit's concealed carry or storage
in general.
The 3 most important.
And when I say most important, Ibelieve data driven.
If you're going to have 3 laws,you really need to get
background checks on everysingle gun sale.
You need to have a safe storageprovisions to make sure that
people are storing their gunsproperly where kids in
(16:11):
particular can't can't get themand you need to have extreme
risk protection orders, which isa means to take guns away from
people who, you know, aredangerous.
And are at risk of harmingthemselves or others.
And so in terms of those bigthree, Wisconsin does not have
any extreme risk protectionorders, sometimes called red
(16:32):
flag laws.
We have in terms of backgroundchecks, If you buy a gun at a
licensed firearms dealer, youwill have a background check run
on you.
However there is no backgroundcheck requirement for private
sales.
So I get constituents calling meall the time saying, My neighbor
is selling a gun at their garagesale.
That can't be illegal.
(16:54):
Unfortunately, it is.
Because that's a private sale, asale from one person to another,
if you're not a licensedfirearms dealer, is legal.
And that is how a lot of peopleget their hands on guns, whether
that's online or from a neighboror from somebody that you meet.
And if you remember back to theAsana spa shooting here in
Brookfield that is how domesticabuser got his hands on some
(17:16):
firearms.
We also don't have anyrequirements for safe storage
sort of to the gun owner.
There have been bills to have,you know, to repeal sales tax on
gun safes for requirements andall kinds of things, but we
haven't been able to pass any ofthose so we've nibbled around
the edges, but there's so muchmore Wisconsin can do.
Yeah, and you brought up acouple of good points there.
(17:38):
And one thing that I wanted totouch on was, a lot of the
fanfare and a lot of the mediathat was around specifically
that domestic abuser bill thatwent through the United States
Supreme Court, right?
2022 when there was this hugemovement and a lot of the guns,
right?
Lobbyists, that were on the Onthe fence of, we don't want to
(17:59):
remove this right for people whoare domestic, abusers which is
just arbitrary and just insaneconsidering the actual
statistics that we have to sayyou're five times higher if you
are in a domestic abusiverelationship to be a victim of
gun violence, if there is a gunin the home.
Right.
And so some of this, thesestatistics that we bring up all
the time you know, when Meganand I go to these events, when I
(18:19):
go to these events, these arethings that go in one ear and
out the other.
It seems like in some cases butI guess kind of getting to that,
How do you balance thoseconcerns of gun rights advocates
with those advocating forstricter gun laws?
In Wisconsin, everyone knows we,you know, up, up until, you
know, hopefully the nextelection we have been very
divided and, and the partieshave been very, very far apart.
(18:41):
For every gun you know, law thatusually Democrats try to
introduce on safe storage ortrying to close the, you know,
background check loophole.
There's another one that wantspermitless carry and wants
teachers to be armed in school.
So it's been really, really hardto, have both sides come
together.
For my personal experience, Ididn't grow up in a household
(19:02):
with a lot of guns.
We a Springfield rifle, but onlybecause my family's from
Springfield, Massachusetts,where they were from and so when
my father passed away he, youknow, went to the shooting range
with friends, a Republicanmember of the NRA.
I inherited his handguns.
That gave me an opportunity tolearn.
More about gun culture.
(19:22):
So I shipped the guns to me, sawall the loopholes in that
process.
I got my concealed carry permitwhere I learned that in
Wisconsin, you do not have tofire your gun to get a concealed
carry permit.
You never have to fire it.
You have to learn to check itand load it and unload it.
But I had to take an additionalcourse on basic handgun
certification in order to learnhow to fire My weapon.
(19:46):
And so it was like, I suddenly,it dawned on me that there are
people in target with concealedcarry permits who maybe have not
fired their gun or haven't beento the range in a very, very
long time.
And that's dangerous.
So what I try to do is get asinformed as I can, seek out
opinions from people who mightnot agree with me.
I've spoken with people who inthe firearms manufacturing
(20:08):
industry you know, people, youknow, who are I have a gun range
in my district.
I talk to the owner all thetime.
So to try to understand, to tryto bridge those divides, because
there has to be a level oftrust.
We honestly there, we don't wantto take guns away from
everybody.
And there are legitimate reasonswhere people feel unsafe.
(20:28):
We want people who own guns tostore them safely, to use them,
and to be trained and have thequalifications so that they're
not an accidental risk toothers.
Yeah, and you know, that's agood point in itself.
You know, I think what was mostprudent in the most recent
debates is the fact that, youknow, both candidates were, were
(20:49):
Harping on this this concept ofgun ownership and gun control,
right?
One way or the other.
And I think what the vicepresident brought up that was
very pointed with the fact thatshe said herself that she was a
gun owner and that she's nottrying to take anyone's gun away
from them.
And so I think that's kind ofthe, the, the moniker that a lot
of folks harp on.
And a lot of folks, find thatdivision.
(21:09):
What we're, what we're trying tosay in this, when we say gun
control, we're not trying totake your second amendment right
away from you.
We're just trying to make sothat children are safe, make it
so that the communities are safeand that we have provisions in
place in order to prevent thesemass shootings or emptying
multiple rounds per second, youknow in these, in these events.
So, and I guess that takes itback to a good, good question
(21:31):
for you, Megan, how do youapproach.
Or your colleagues approachdiscussions with, with parents
with regards to gun safety andfamilies as well.
Yeah, I, I agree with so much ofwhat you guys are saying.
I think.
I tend to think about gunviolence as a public health
issue, right?
So it's the number one killer ofchildren in America.
(21:51):
And when I say children, I meanzero through 17 years old.
And I think there just needs tobe a lot of sort of education
and awareness building aroundthat fact alone.
I think just talking to parentsand community members and
teachers about the fact thatGuns are the number one killer
of children is eye opening.
And that should change ourentire perspective.
(22:12):
I mean, yes, we need to passthese three laws.
We also, if we can look at gunviolence sort of through the
lens of public health, we canpass other laws or just change
behaviors that make guns.
sort of perceived as dangerousas they are.
So you know, I think there'ssort of a glorification of guns
(22:32):
in our culture.
Kids are playing video gamesthat have guns in them from a
very early age.
Guns are on TV.
Guns are on movies.
You know, kids play with guns,like little practice guns.
We've seen how terribly tragicthat can end when a police
officer is confused by a toygun.
So there's just a lot of likecultural changes I think we can
(22:53):
make.
And I, I liken it to somethinglike cigarette smoking.
That was a cultural shift thatwe went through about 20 years
ago.
Where all of a sudden it becameless cool.
That wasn't all of a sudden ittook, it took a couple of
decades.
Cigarettes became less cool,right?
Like in the.
60s, people were smoking onairplanes and smoking in
hospitals, and everyone in themovies who was cool had a
(23:16):
cigarette.
That has dramatically changednow.
I mean cigarette companies areforbidden to advertise to
children.
They are forbidden to advertisein magazines.
They I think just like the, eventhe packaging is different and
that has helped change sort ofthe culture of smoking.
And I think we can do a lot ofthe same things with guns.
So how I talk to parents aboutit is really just raising
(23:37):
awareness.
Did you know that guns are thenumber one killer of children?
I think another thing that Italked to parents about that red
flag law is so important.
Something we forget is that 60percent of gun deaths, this is
and in the United States aswell, are suicides by gun.
That's, That's not a schoolshooting.
That's not like, oh, a drive by.
That's like someone is in diremental health straits and needs
(24:01):
help.
And because they had easy accessto a gun, they went ahead and
they were very successful intheir suicide attempt.
Guns are extraordinarily lethalwhether you're suicide or
homicide.
And that's something we couldwork on too, is just like the
lethality of the bullets, thelethality of the gun.
So yeah, I guess, How I talkedabout a parents is just
education, safety.
(24:23):
You can, like Deb said, I'm nottrying to take away your gun.
I'm trying to make it safe foryour family to have one and for
you to feel safe just in oursociety.
I mean, I think I talked to alot of parents who.
really feel uncomfortable goingto parades or, you know, parties
or concerts because our culturehas sort of seeped in this idea
(24:44):
that everyone is armed,sometimes concealed, no one's
checking for it, no one'slicensed, no one's registered
and that's terrifying.
So I think we as a society needto kind of take that back and
say, no, actually this is notthe kind of place I want to
live.
This is not the kind of place Iwant to raise my kids.
And, you know, Megan, I grew upin a community that was very
(25:05):
similar to North side ofMilwaukee.
My parents, you know, both hadguns, grandparents had guns, and
it was more so of, a safetyissue.
Right.
It was an issue of, gettingplace to place.
And a lot of folks in Wisconsin,especially here in Milwaukee
feel that way.
But in, in my own personalexperience, I feel that the
frequency of these, theseshootings has changed, you know,
there was, there was always drabas it was always, unfortunately
(25:27):
something would go down on theplayground, et cetera, et
cetera.
But in the course of yourcareer, how has the frequency of
gun related injuries andchildren's changed over the
course that you've seen so far?
It has dramatically increased.
I mean, shockingly so.
I graduated my pediatricresidency, which is sort of the
first training you do aftermedical school in 2015.
(25:49):
And in the 3 years that I was inpediatric residency, I only saw
1 child shot with a gun.
I was living in a state at thetime that had much better gun
control laws than Wisconsin andMassachusetts, shout out.
But I, so when I came toWisconsin in 2015, it was
already increased.
Like there was a dramatic changejust coming from Massachusetts
to Wisconsin.
(26:10):
But then there was another hugeincrease around 2020.
COVID, George Floyd's murder.
Just sort of societal unrest.
There's a lot of sort ofstructural instability at that
time.
I'm talking about kids not goingto school, kids not having after
school pro programs, kids youknow, not having enough to eat.
So I think all of those issuesreally led to increased gun
(26:32):
violence.
And now we're at a point whereon average we see three kids
shot with a gun a week.
Oh, my gosh.
Yeah.
And you bring up so many otherthings that go into it.
Right?
So, there's so many otherparameters that go into gun
violence.
I know there's a lot ofcommunity groups like 414 life,
et cetera.
(26:53):
And even the Medical College ofWisconsin has its own violence
prevention, in addition to theOffice of Violence Prevention
for the city of Milwaukee,that's trying to intercalate
into, how can we prevent itbefore it gets to that point?
Right.
And so I think you bring up agood point that, you know, the
gun legislation and the, the guncontrol is one aspect of it, but
there are so many of these otherthings that we need to grapple
(27:15):
with in terms of, coming up withresolutions from a community
standpoint, and maybe even alegislative standpoint too.
So I'll bring that over to Deband I don't want to bring up any
PTSD for you here.
But can you talk about anyupcoming bills or any past
bills?
I know you said that thelegislative majority gaveled in,
gaveled out really quicklyduring the last session with
regards to any legislativeefforts in that respect.
(27:37):
But are there any that areupcoming with regards to
addressing gun control in thestate of Wisconsin?
Well, I certainly hope so.
This is where I try to inject alittle bit of positivity on a
subject that Chris is veryfamiliar with is our, our fair
maps.
And so this is a importantelection in Wisconsin, because
for the past decade, we havebeen under gerrymandered maps,
(28:01):
which means Democrats are invery blue districts, Republicans
are in very red districts.
We have a brand new legislativesession coming up after the
election in November.
We'll all be sworn in the firstweek of January.
Under those new maps, we havelegislators who are, there are a
lot more legislators who are inwhat we call the purple
districts.
So they're really 50 50.
Like, when I was elected in 2020and I flipped the district from
(28:23):
Republican to Democratic Irealized that, you know, I had
to represent all All of myconstituents, because it's a 50
50 district.
That's a different kind oflegislating than we have seen
from a lot of people who live inthese very, very red or very,
very blue districts.
I am optimistic that we canelect those people who have to
really listen to theirconstituents and what they're
saying.
(28:43):
Cause we know poll after pollshows 80, 82 percent of
Wisconsinites want to see thelegislature pass these very
basic gun safety laws.
So in terms of what bills arecoming up, I believe we're going
to kind of hit the reset buttonin January, where we're going to
have an opportunity, I hope, tostart talking across party lines
(29:05):
to those legislators who havebeen elected saying that they
support common sense gun laws.
So I was the chair of thelegislative gun safety coalition
where legislators come togetherand we talk about what bills
we're going to introduce.
I do hope that going forwardthat we might see a little bit
more bipartisanship and in thatcoalition and also public
hearings, we have never had apublic hearing on.
(29:28):
Background checks, red flaglaws, all of these basic
fundamentals.
And if we can't have a publichearing, if we can't talk about
it, we can't compromise and wecan't move forward.
Would love to see us at leaststart having, starting to have
those public hearings wherewe're talking about, you know,
what are your hesitations onthese bills, there's model
legislations from states allacross the country.
(29:50):
Let's come up with somethingthat works for Wisconsin.
Yeah.
And that was going to be my nextquestion, because a lot of our
listeners, when this topic cameup, they sent in questions
about, you know, what has beenthe holdup?
Like, you know, we have theevidence here.
We see things that are going on.
From your standpoint, Deb, doyou know?
Like, can you put yourself inthe mind of these folks who are
so, anti to any passage oflegislation to control?
(30:13):
Is there any incentive to not doit?
Or what are your thoughts?
In a word, it's been thepartisanship that's been driven
by the gerrymandered MAPS.
So I try to make it a point totalk to all of my Republican
colleagues.
And when I'm talking about thesekinds of gun bills, I try to do
it behind closed doors.
That way I can kind ofunderstand where they're coming
from, where some of the holdupAnd I know that there are some
(30:38):
of my Republican colleagues whowould be in favor of these
things coming forward.
That's the legend.
It's the leadership.
So the leadership in each partyis really the ones who decide
what bills get public hearings,what gets to move forward.
And so that was really where theholdup is because I am convinced
that there's more broad basedsupport of these bills But
(30:59):
leadership has, you know, I'mnot invited to Republican
leadership meetings, so I don'tknow exactly what's happening.
We'll have to see.
I don't know if it's the gunlobby, I don't know if it's just
ideological, but that we havenot been able to, you know, to
break through that wall.
So hopefully going forward, wecan start doing a little bit
more of that when we have morepeople who are looking at those
50, 50, 50 districts and arejust interested in breaking out
(31:23):
of the just ideological boxesthat we've been stuck in for so
long.
Yeah, absolutely.
And Megan, from that standpoint,too, I recently attended
Doctor's Day on the Hill, and Iwas able to meet, some of my
representatives, including Debhere, who we've already met, but
I was able to see Deb in personand my newly elected state
(31:43):
senator.
And we talked about, some thingsthat physicians can do from our
standpoint to advocate.
You do a lot of advocacy.
I'll, I'll attach your YouTubevideo as well for the speech
that you gave recently.
That was tremendous and Iappreciate you doing that.
What can physicians orhealthcare professionals do to
help provide that context thatyou just gave us here, you know,
(32:06):
talking about the day to daythings that you're seeing, how
it's really affecting folks onthe ground.
How can we be helpful?
Yeah, I think this is somethingI think about every day.
Like, what can I be doing?
Because that That feeling ofobstruction with a policy is
really frustrating, especiallywhen we learn that like 80
percent of people across bothparties really support these
(32:27):
common sense gun laws.
So, yeah, I think a lot of whatmy colleagues and I try to do is
the awareness building.
So I recently was able to speakto the Milwaukee County Medical
Society.
And same thing my colleague andI just sort of describe what we
see every day and how guns arethe number 1 killer of children.
And these are physicians who arein our county.
(32:48):
They're not necessarilypediatricians, but and not
necessarily ER doctors, but.
They see all the same patientswe do, and even among doctors,
there was a general sense ofsurprise that the number 1
killer of children, so, I thinkeducation is huge.
I also think that there is asense, and I think this comes
from racism, that gun violenceis a black problem in Milwaukee.
(33:12):
And I do think it's helpful forphysicians.
Reset the equation there and totalk about what's really
happening.
The problem is guns.
It's not the color of your skin.
So I do feel a sense ofresponsibility there.
I'm a white person and I cantell you like statistically what
we're seeing 60%.
Of gun deaths are suicide.
(33:33):
And actually, the majority ofthose deaths are white people.
And across the spectrum of race,I've seen kids shot because of
unsafely stored guns and youknow, guns that had been sold
illegally.
And it really has nothing to dowith race.
So that's another thing I thinkthat physicians can sort of just
shed light on.
(33:54):
Or kind of uncouple this ideathat like, this is a black
problem.
And then also I think as aPhysician who's a parent I try
to talk to families in myneighborhood and you know, my my
kids friends and stuff aboutanytime there's a play date I
ask if there's a gun in the homeand how it's stored.
And I think slowly that'sbecoming more common It's I
(34:15):
always find it interesting thatwe talk about like You know, is
anyone allergic to nuts?
When like Right, right, right.
Allergies are not even in thetop 10 causes for cancer.
No, no, but everybody's got theEpiPen.
Not everybody has a, has a lockbox, we should definitely be
talking about guns and gunstorage in the home.
And not necessarily, you know,these other things that we tend
(34:38):
to be obsessed with.
Like, is there a cat?
Like, I can deal with runny eyesand runny nose from that.
I cannot deal with a gunshotwound in a child.
So those are some of the ways Itry to advocate.
Another thing that I, I think isimportant is you know, you
mentioned that even in your ownfamily there was a feeling that
guns make you safer.
And I, I can totally appreciatethat feeling.
(35:00):
I have people in my family whofeel the same way.
And I, I just try to bring Factsto that idea, which is guns do
not make you safer, regardlessof gender age whether or not
you're a victim of domesticabuse or not a gun in your home
makes you more likely to die bygun.
And I don't think a lot ofpeople know that.
(35:21):
I think there's again, ourculture tends to glorify guns
and there's a feeling that like,oh, my God, we'll make if
there's a break in or if I don'teven know what people think
they're going to do with theirgun.
I'll keep it with me and I'll bethe person.
Yeah.
No.
Statistically speaking, you arefar more likely to die by gun if
you have a gun.
When I took my concealed carryclass, I was shocked because
(35:44):
that's what they kept talkingabout.
They kept talking about, youknow, when someone went, when
they break down your door, youhave five seconds to get your
fire, your family.
And when I raised my hand, I waslike, they're going for my
wallet and my iPad downstairs.
Like, I'm not going upstairs to,you know, statistically, like
(36:06):
tell me a little bit more and,but.
But that was the emphasis of theclass.
And then the instructor held meup for class, and he's like, I
know who you are.
It was, he was armed, and I'mlike, let's just, you know, I'm
trying to bring facts to thediscussion.
And that's where someone likeme, who has a D after my name,
(36:26):
You know, I, it's limited inwhat I can say, but for both of
you who have an MD after yourname, you are in every
community, every district, andyou bring that level of
credibility to the discussionwhere, you know, in the Capitol,
we might talk past each otherall day, every day.
And I'll just tell you a quickexample.
And I was the lead author on theextremist protection order bill.
(36:47):
I was trying to get one of myRepublican colleagues to sign on
and he wouldn't, you know, Aconstituent called him and he's
like, well, you know, I haven'thad a chance to look at it.
So and then the constituentcalled me and said, oh, I just
had this conversation.
He hasn't seen the bill.
So I literally took the billwalked it down to his office put
it in his hand.
I'm like call him in 10 minutesAnd he signed up It's this tag
(37:10):
team, like, you know, you, hecould hear from me all day, but
until he's hearing from aconstituent and that was a
member of the physicians for gunsafety group, like one of his
constituent doctors called him,told him the facts.
He had the bill and he ended upbeing a co sponsor.
Didn't get a public hearing, butit's, you know, it's those kinds
of working together you know, totry to bring both facts and
(37:30):
credible messengers into the,into the equation.
Yeah, no, absolutely.
And that brings up a good point.
Both of you brought up, youknow, Megan was bringing up the
fact that having more gunsdoesn't necessarily make you
safer.
There was a podcast I waslistening to.
It's called Military Mentor,where it's a retired military
guy who lives overseas.
He lives in Europe, and hebrought the same issue of, you
(37:52):
know, you feel like you need toget a gun.
Somebody else feels like theyneed to get a gun.
Or, right.
Et cetera, et cetera.
There's, there's no number tocap and essentially, it turns
into this environment wherethere is a plethora of guns and
there, there increases theamount of chance that you're
going to have a shooting or, oran adverse event.
If somebody pulls a gun on you,You're obligated to pull your
(38:13):
gun, et cetera, et cetera.
He was mentioning in Europe, youknow, this, this is not a thing.
Like it's not, it's notsomething that he's the expat,
right?
This is not something that hesees when disagreements crop up
over and over again.
So it's definitely something,unfortunately, that is
ingrained, in our culture and inour society.
And like you said, it's cool toa certain extent, Megan, right?
It's been made this cool thingyou know, like cigarettes once
were, but it is a devastatingfactor into our public health.
(38:37):
But with regards to what Deb wassaying too, you know, there are
multiple bipartisan gunapproaches, control measures
that have been done in otherstates.
Do you know of any specificallythat, that Wisconsin can learn
from Deb, in terms of any otherstates or any other areas that
have benefited from bipartisansupport?
Large part bipartisanship hasusually arrived, unfortunately,
(39:01):
after some sort of mass shootingor event in the news.
I, you know, I'm thinking of in,in Maine where they had the, the
shooter and one of the localRepublicans, you know, finally
came out and, regretted that hehad been standing in between you
know, standing in the way of, ofgetting gun laws.
And I'm always telling mycolleagues, like, Let's not wait
till Wisconsin's, right?
(39:22):
Like, let mm-Hmm, let's get infront of it so people don't have
to die.
Before, before we take actionI'll give a a, a shout out on a
couple of things on the Journal.
Sentinel did an amazing seriesreporter John Dietrich it's
called The Behind the GunSeries, where, you know, he was
talking with gun owners and, andbringing in suicide, and you
know, where that factors in.
(39:42):
So we can have these, thesehonest conversations.
One of the speakers was MikeCedini.
And he's at Walk the TalkAmerica where he's in the gun
industry and they are trying tobring both suicide prevention
into working in the gunindustry, but also, you know,
bringing that perspective of gunowners to the debate.
(40:02):
I mean, I talk with a lot of mydemocratic colleagues where
they're just like, all guns arebad.
We should get rid of them all.
And I'm like too late.
They're not going to happen.
There was a constitution thatwas signed.
If you want to go back.
Yeah, well, there was a gun shopbill, which should have passed
where we're giving, you know,suicide education and funding
for it to gun shops so that theycan help identify people who may
(40:25):
be coming in, who are at risk.
And there's a real reluctance onthe part of a lot of Democrats.
Like, why would we give money togun shops?
I was like, so people don't die.
So there's education on bothsides that really, really.
Has to happen.
And so, you know, looking atwhat they're doing in in other
states and bridging thosedifferent industries hopefully
Wisconsin doesn't have to waittill I'm actually doing in order
(40:47):
to do it.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Megan, more so in your opinion,What policies or laws, would
have the most significant impacton reducing gun related injuries
and deaths in children, in termsof the injuries that you see
commonly?
I think safe storage iscritical.
So many of the kids I see haveaccidentally shot themselves
(41:10):
with a family gun.
Or even, I mean, terriblytragically, I've seen parents
actually shoot their ownchildren with a gun.
So I think that would be huge.
We actually are trying, in myER, we've gotten a grant to give
out gun locks and gun safestowards this measure.
I do think going to our, one ofour previous topics, There is
(41:31):
sort of this like idea thatlike, Oh, if my gun is locked,
then I won't be ready when thereis the home invasion, whatever.
So we do need to work on that alittle bit.
But I, I also think there wetalked a little bit about like
the lethality of guns andbullets.
There have been like incredible,I don't even know the word for
it, like technological advanceshow lethal our weapons are.
(41:53):
And I don't think any of that isnecessary.
Like you know, I don't know whywe need AR 15s.
I don't know why those need tobe legal.
I, some of these like, you know,the rounds that just keep going
and you don't even have to nonstop and pause.
Bump stops.
Yeah, exactly.
I don't think that needs to belegal.
3D printing of guns, like anypolicy that will just Like,
(42:15):
let's just slow down a littlebit, you know, have a gun
safely, register it, have alicense, take some classes, just
like you would to like drive acar, very similar.
And then and then the, like thebullets also the single gunshot
wound that we see in childrenthat just.
tears apart their little bodiesis devastating.
(42:38):
And that is precisely because ofthese like hollow point bullets
that break into a million shardsonce they're inside and they
ricochet everywhere.
I don't know why those need tobe legal either.
Like, can, can we just go backto regular bullets that like
will kill a deer if you need to?
But like, I don't, I thinkthere's a lot of policy around
like the gun itself or thebullet itself that we could work
(43:00):
on, including like biometriclocks.
Why isn't it, why isn't everygun have a biometric lock?
You need to like use yourthumbprint to turn the gun on.
That would be quick.
You don't have to like, youknow, fuss with the lock or
anything.
Just make that, Every gun.
You can't have a gun unless youhave a biometric lock.
I'm not a representative though,so these are just my random
ideas.
Yeah, no, absolutely.
Absolutely.
(43:20):
And I think What you're sayingis common sense to most people,
but there is just this attitudewhere, you know, you can, you
know, throw facts around anddata and talk, I mean, talk
about the bullets, and then theyjust, you know, They will look
at you and just say secondamendment and walk away.
Well, I mean, you know, nothingis absolute.
I mean, so we, I always try to,to explain how we need to get
(43:42):
back to a culture of gun safetyand we, the NRA used to provide,
you know, education.
And that's where you went to getyour hunter education classes.
And now we've got, you know,lobbyists, you know, in the
Wisconsin state Capitol wearingAR 15 lapel pins.
And that is just beyond thepale, so we, we have to, you
(44:04):
know, to, to start tipping backand, and, you know, responsible
gun owners, modeling that kindof behavior and showing, you
know, you, you can own guns andyou have the right, but you also
have the responsibility to do itsafely for the safety of your
family and for everyone aroundyou.
As you would a car, right?
As you would any other devicethat could potentially harm
(44:26):
folks.
I think, especially with thatsort of mantra and that behavior
of wearing the lapel pins andthumping the chest and things
like that.
I often invite those people.
And I did during Dr.
Day on the Hill a couple ofyears ago, too.
Come and come with me to the ERif you want to, like, I want you
to see what I see.
And before, you know, Megan, Iquoted an excerpt from your
(44:49):
article that you did in theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel.
And the title of it was, youknow, what keeps an ER doctor up
at night?
The sound a mother makes afterher child dies.
I don't want anyone to hear thatsound.
I don't want anyone toexperience the loss of a child
when it is easily preventable,you know, and for the sake of,
for folks, to walk around andfeel as though, you know, they
have this bravado about them.
(45:10):
That's ridiculous.
Yes.
I totally agree.
I was just at like a bouncyhouse with my kids and there was
a mom there walking around withan AR 15 t shirt that said, And
I, I had, I'm sure it's from myPTSD from hearing that sound way
too many times I had thisvisceral reaction.
I almost started crying.
Like, wow, what's, what have wedone as a country as like, as
(45:35):
individuals?
I said, a parent would wear thatto a child gear event, like
that, that sound changes you andseeing the stuff that we see,
you know, over and over again,it changes you and it changes
your perspective.
Like I said, you know, I grew uparound a lot of gun violence,
unfortunately, but being in thatsituation now as an adult, now
as a parent, that changes yourwhole purview and your whole
(45:56):
perspective of how you see it,especially when you're seeing it
over and over again, it becomesa part of you.
Unfortunately, a hundredpercent.
Yeah.
So we'll go ahead and close out,you know, Deb, I'll start with
you.
Any closing statements that youwanted to provide to our
listeners, anything that we cando in, in terms of helping to
promote, any gun safe laws, anylegislative measures, things of
that nature.
(46:18):
Right now is a perfect time tobe reaching out to your state
legislators and candidates forstate legislature, because we
have a unique opportunity now tohold them accountable you know,
find out where they stand makesure you're voting for them.
accordingly that you are votingfor candidates who say, yes, I
believe in the second amendmentand I also believe Wisconsin can
(46:40):
and should be doing betterbecause too many kids are dying
because too many people aredying and we need to make sure
that we can take guns away frompeople who pose a risk to
themselves or others and thenafter they're elected.
Hold them accountable.
I, I really like to tell peoplebecause, you know, I, I used to
bring volunteers to Madison totalk to their state legislators.
(47:02):
When, when they say like, Oh,well, that bill doesn't have a
public hearing.
What are you doing to get it?
A public hearing?
Are you talking to yourcolleagues?
You know, when can I expect tohear from you?
Just making sure they're hearingfrom, from you, particularly
your constituents.
You can write to legislators allover the place, but if you vote
for that person and your vote isputting them in office, you need
(47:23):
to go to their town halls andtheir meetings and make sure
that they're hearing from youbecause that kind of pressure is
what we can, is what is neededto move these bills forward so
we can just have publichearings, start talking about
them.
If we can't talk about theproblem, we can't solve the
problem.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And Megan, any, anything thatfolks can do from your
(47:45):
perspective, any, any closingthoughts yeah, I think for any
parents in the audience, I wouldsay if you have a gun in your
home, consider getting rid of itjust because you are safer
without a gun than your childrenare as well.
If you are a parent without agun, I would make sure that
everywhere your child is, issafe from guns.
So whether that's play dates oryou know, Going over to even
(48:07):
like family Thanksgiving, like,make sure that every environment
your child is in is safe from agun to physicians and the
audience.
I, I would say, ask yourpatients about guns, especially,
you know, if your primary caredoctor or pediatrician, are the
guns in the home?
How are they stored?
Do you feel safe?
These are questions that cansave lives.
And then also, work with yourphysician colleagues to, you
(48:30):
have a voice, you can talk toyour representatives you can
provide gun locks, you can marchin parades and do these podcasts
like I do, I do think physicianshave a voice that people tend to
listen to, so use it.
And then, yeah, I just think ingeneral, I would love for us to
ask ourselves, like, I, I, Rightnow, when I'm asked to speak
(48:52):
about guns, I say yes toanybody, like whether it's, you
know, the gun shop owner or thewomen's league of voters, or I'm
talking soon to like the retirededucators of some county.
Sure.
Perfect.
I just want everyone to knowthat guns are the number one
killer of children and this isnot an okay way to live.
So I think just like creatingthat conversation, like building
(49:14):
that awareness is reallyimportant for everyone.
We're all affected by, like yousaid, especially the educators.
Now, you know, I, I couldn'timagine going to school.
For educators as well as thestudents to, you know, how that
is going to affect thempsychologically for, for years
to come now, because this istheir reality, gun shooter,
active shooter drills are areality for them, right?
(49:36):
And so.
You know, this is something thataffects all of us.
It's not a partisan issue.
This is a Wisconsin issue.
This is a, an American issuethat we need to continue to push
forward and, and, bring somemeaningful change to, I always
tell students, I didn't grow upwith lockdown drills because it
wasn't an issue until.
Columbine and until our gun lawsgot looser, we can get back to
(49:57):
that.
I mean, our kids shouldn't growup in this kind of a world.
We need to get back to a placewhere we don't have to have
them.
There are guns everywhere now,but we need some common sense
solution.
And to start talking about, youknow, ways that we can work
across the aisle because wedon't, we're the only country in
the world that lives this way.
This is not an issue in anyother country, which tells us
(50:18):
our solutions that we can beusing.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Well, representative Andraca Dr.
Schultz, thank you both so muchfor coming out and looking
forward to talking more andworking together on some
meaningful change Thank you somuch.
Thank you.
This has been great.
There was a recent study.
They came out from theRockefeller Institute of
(50:39):
government.
Where the foundation took a lookat public mass shootings and
countries similar to the UnitedStates.
What it found was by no surprisethat the United States was
ranked number one in terms ofmass shootings.
At 109 shootings in thattimeframe.
The next country.
That was number two on the listwas France.
(51:02):
And if you care to guess whattheir numbers of mass shootings,
where.
It was six.
This is a uniquely Americanissue that we have of mass
shootings and shootings ingeneral.
Again, I invited.
Doctor schultz on as well asrepresentative Andraca to give
you some background into wherewe are in the state of
(51:24):
Wisconsin, but, you know, We'reat a point now, guys, we got to
do something.
This is ridiculous.
There was no reason.
While we should have.
Such a disparity.
And the number of shootings ascompared to the number two in
the list, which is France.
Again, six, two are over 100mass shootings in this
timeframe.
(51:44):
Regardless of how you feel.
About going control and yourdesire to own guns.
No one is trying to take yourguns away from you.
I guarantee you again, I grewup.
With family members that all ownguns.
I grew up in a community whereit was known.
That if you didn't have a gun,in some cases, You felt as
(52:05):
though you were unable toprotect yourself and unable to
protect your household.
I get that.
But at the same time, Thereshould be no one.
Who is lobbying at a federallevel.
There should be no one who ismaking Supreme court testimony.
To the affirmative.
To allow some individuals tohave guns.
(52:25):
And by that specifically, whenI'm talking about.
Are the lobbyists who wereadvocating for folks who were
accused of domestic abuse andstill do to this day.
Advocating for them.
To maintain the right.
To hold guns.
We have been shown in the data,and this is objective data.
This isn't my opinion.
This is not dependent upon checkWisconsin.
(52:46):
This is data that you canresearch.
A domestic abuser who has accessto a gun.
And the people who live withthem.
They have a five time risk.
Of that perpetrator using thegun against them to ultimately
kill them.
We know this to be true.
Regardless of how you feel,regardless of how you feel about
(53:08):
your constitutional right tohold a gun.
We need to follow the evidencewe need.
To reduce the amount ofshootings.
That we have in this country.
We need to have common sense gunlaws, period.
No one else around the world hasthese issues, but the United
States.
For anyone who is contrary tothat, I would invite you to come
(53:30):
and volunteer at the EDS.
I would invite you to reach outto me if you want to.
Get any more information?
I'm sure Dr.
Schultz would feel the same way.
But we are seeing babies die.
We're seeing people die and getshot.
Having significant disabilityday in and day out in this
state.
And around the country.
(53:50):
These are shootings and injuriesthat are preventable.
And as an ER doctor.
I am tired of holding hands.
Of people who are shot.
Who don't have anyone there withhim.
And in some cases, kids who aredying.
That have no one else in theroom with them at the time.
We need to do better.
(54:11):
Take this opportunity.
To reflect.
On gun laws in your community.
And gun laws in your state.
And wherever you're listening tothis recording.
Make sure that you have all thefacts.
When you're going to the polls.
When you're making thesedecisions, research your
candidates.
And research their stances onsome of these issues that we're
(54:32):
going to be talking about overthe next couple episodes the
only way.
To make a change.
Is to vote.
The only way.
That we're going to get to aplace.
Where we feel safer.
Where our communities feelsafer.
Well, we don't have to worryabout when we drop our kids off.
Is that the last time we'regoing to see our children.
(54:53):
The only way we're going to getto that.
Is if we.
Use our civic abilities.
To put people in places.
That can make these decisionsfor our communities.
Here's the state of Wisconsin.
Is representative on Draka CIT.
We've gaveled out of session.
We're playing political games.
At the state level.
(55:14):
When there are children dying.
Period.
The children die.
And for any representative outthere.
Who was in the legislativemajority, feel free to talk to
me.
I've reached out to several,feel free to talk to me.
If you really want to knowwhat's going on in these
streets, if you really want toknow what's going on in ECRs.
Feel free to reach out to me.
I can show you.
(55:35):
But you need to do something.
We're done with this as alwaystake care of yourselves, take
care of each other.
And if you need me.
Come and see me.
The following is brought to youby the committee to protect
healthcare.
Chris (00:10):
In the emergency department, we see real time
consequences of people nothaving access to health care.
Expansion of Medicaid inWisconsin would mean less cases
to the emergency department.
It would prevent closures ofhospitals in our communities,
and most importantly, savelives.
The majority of states in thecountry have expanded Medicaid
with bipartisan support, yetlegislators in Wisconsin are
blocking expansion of Medicaid.
(00:32):
They're blocking the opportunityfor our patients to have a
healthier life.
Tell your legislator to savelives and pass Medicaid
expansion.
this is a CBS News specialreport.
I'm Nora O'Donnell in New Yorkand we are coming on the air
with breaking news with anotherschool shooting this time about
(00:52):
45 miles northeast of Atlanta inBarrow County, Georgia.
Now the local sheriff'sdepartment said a suspect is in
custody and there are reports.
we're also learning three of thefour killed were pronounced dead
at the scene, and another victimdied at the University of
Alabama Birmingham Hospital.
Now, Birmingham police don't yetknow what precipitated this
(01:14):
event murder for hire plot thatled to a mass shooting in
Birmingham.
leadership and tactics andcommunications and training and
in preparedness were made by lawenforcement lawyers and others
(01:34):
responding to the mass shootingat Robb Elementary.
When he went in the classroom,he said, you are all gonna die.
I was playing dead, so he wasshoot me 10-year-old Samuel
Sena, one of the few survivorsfrom his class now recovering
after an injury to his leg.
He shot my teacher and then heshot the kids.
and a teacher.
(01:55):
And in the last 10 days, we'vehad elderly black people killed
in a supermarket in Buffalo.
We've had Asian churchgoerskilled in Southern California.
And now we have childrenmurdered at school.
When are we going to dosomething?
(02:22):
Welcome to pulse check,Wisconsin.
(03:04):
Good morning.
Good evening.
Good afternoon.
Whatever it is for you.
This is Dr.
Chris Ford, again from PulseCheck Wisconsin.
And I wanted to introduce you tothis special series that we'll
be doing.
Here in the month of Octoberleading into November.
In the November elections.
If you guys haven't.
been Paying attention.
(03:25):
There is a large election thatis coming up both nationally, as
well as at the state level.
And so.
The idea for this series is toprovide you some of the key
topics and key issues that aregoing to be affecting your
health In a moment in which itis going to be.
Very conducive for you to beparticipating at a civic level.
(03:48):
Well, we've seen.
Around this time of year is alot of muck racking, or a lot of
you know, name calling and a lotof false information that may be
out there, both on social mediaas well as sometimes in the
media.
Unfortunately.
And what I wanted to do withthis series is to provide you.
Some valid information for, fromkey folks that are involved in
(04:10):
the ground level of a lot ofthese issues.
We'll have on today's episode.
A state representative DebAndraca who is the, state
representative for the 23rdassembly district.
And Deb has been very vocal interms of establishing some forms
of gun control and parametersfor.
(04:32):
The safe acquisition of guns inthe state of Wisconsin.
And so we'll have her on just totalk a little bit about her
experience as both a legislator.
As well as a former educator.
Who, as we all know,unfortunately in modern times,
educators have been faced withthe threat of gun violence in
(04:52):
terms of the plethora of massshootings that we've been
seeing.
We'll also be having on acolleague of mine, Dr.
Megan Schultz.
Dr.
Megan, is a pediatric emergencyphysician and she is also an
advocate for gun control here inthe state of Wisconsin.
She's given many talks and hasdone many articles and the
Milwaukee journal Sentinel.
So I would definitely recommendyou check those out, but more so
(05:16):
her perspective is coming from aprovider who is on the ground
level, taking care of kidsspecifically.
Who have been victims of gunviolence and the toll that, that
takes not only on the communityand on the child and on the
families, but also on her as aprovider as well.
(05:37):
And so again, this entire seriesis going to delve into topics.
That are real life and that aregoing to affect your life day to
day.
And that are all going to be onthe ballot.
This election season.
No.
Time to do a little bit ofhousekeeping.
I'm going to keep it a buck,which, and we'll keep it 100%.
(05:59):
As always here at pulse checkWisconsin.
I want to respect everyone'spolitical views.
I don't pick a side in terms ofadvocating.
One side or the other.
Some of the issues that I talkabout outside of this platform,
you may see me on TV.
You may hear me on the radio.
Or some of the articles that Iwill release.
I usually speak to policyspecific issues.
(06:21):
And again, that's outside ofthis platform.
Now everybody has their ownpolitics.
And I don't think you've got todo a lot of lawn division two.
No where my politics stand, butat the same time, I want to
respect everyone's views.
And I want to give everyone aplatform in order to make their
own decisions.
At the end of the day, we're allWisconsinites and we all want
the best for our children.
(06:43):
And we want to make sure that weall have a say in how our
communities are communities ofinterest.
And how our laws and all theparameters to keep our families
safe and keep our familiesprosperous, want to have a say
in how those things are done andthe best way to do that is not
only to.
Participate civically.
And that's by voting, but alsoto have.
(07:06):
The ability to make purposefulchange in your community.
And so that means that your voteactually counts.
A lot of work that I've done inthe past, including in terms of
any legislative, map creation,we have really advocated for
having maps that are fair andbalanced for.
individuals throughout the stateof Wisconsin.
(07:27):
And for the first time in about12 years, we have that during
this election.
At least at the assembly and thestate Senate level.
So even more so than before, wewant to make sure that our
elections are competitive.
We want to make sure that your.
Voice is heard in theseelections, so.
What I want everyone who isunder the power of my voice to
(07:49):
do right now.
Is too.
Check to see if you areregistered to vote.
Because again, all of thesethings that we're going to talk
about in the next couple.
Episodes are going to be key,hot button topics that are going
to be involving your life andevolving Wisconsinites involving
your neighbors, your parents,your children, everyone.
(08:09):
And I want you to participate.
In that discussion and thosedecisions as well.
And the only way for you to dothat is to make sure that you
are civically engaged and tomake sure that you're voting,
because if you're not voting,then your opinion doesn't count
on paper.
So with that being said, Duringthese short series.
I won't be doing any casereviews, but what I want you to
(08:32):
do is I want you to look at allof the information that I will
post to the website correlatingwith these episodes.
I want you to.
Go to myvotewisconsin.gov tocheck to see if you are
registered to vote.
And I'll post that to thewebsite as well.
So with that being said, This isour first in the series.
(08:56):
This show, and this episode willbe focused around the issue of
gun violence.
As you'll hear from our twoexperts, gun violence is
something that affects all walksof life.
Both here in the state ofWisconsin and throughout the
country.
As you can tell from the intro.
And I got to admit, I've tearedup a little bit.
Hearing the intro.
(09:17):
Being a father, being, justsomeone that, has to live and
work in this world.
In which we have such.
A plethora of mass shootings.
This is something that willaffect everyone who is listening
to this recording.
Whether you're pro gun or prolegislation for gun control,
(09:39):
there is something in thisinterview.
That you can take away andsomething that you can take with
you.
When you're trying to make adecision.
Of who you want to vote for?
How they will vote to act pro oragainst your point of view and
Hope you ask the question.
who should be making thesedecisions.
So with that being said, I won'ttake too much away from Dr.
(10:02):
Schultz Representative Andracathey dropped some truth bombs
here.
So with that being said, let'sgo ahead and start with our
interview with representativeDeb Andraca and Dr.
Megan Schultz.
(10:46):
I'm State Representative DebAndraca.
I am the State Representativefor the 23rd Assembly District.
That includes Whitefish Bay, FoxPoint, Bayside, River Hills,
Brown Deer, Mequon, andTheansville I was first elected
in 2020 and I'm currentlyrunning for a third term.
I'm Megan Schultz.
I am a pediatric emergencyphysician and an associate
(11:07):
professor of pediatrics.
Thanks so much for being with usSo, you know, what we wanted to
do at the very beginning of thisepisode, we kind of gave an
intro just to talk about thelevity of what we're going to
talk about today.
So how commonplace,unfortunately, it has become
this.
epidemic of just gun violence,mass shootings, things like
that.
I was looking over for just alittle bit of research before
(11:30):
today.
And what I found was even lastnight before the day of this
recording, which is September23rd, there was another mass
shooting in Alabama, I believeon the 22nd that I didn't even
hear about.
Right.
And so like, that's just howcommonplace and how saturated
we're becoming.
You know, with this, thishorrible, again, this epidemic
that we're facing with gunviolence just from more so of a
(11:51):
policy standpoint, I'll startwith you, just what is the
general sentiment amongst yourconstituents regarding gun
control and gun violence here inthe state of Wisconsin, as well
as in the country?
Well, Wisconsin ranks about 21out of 50 for gun law strength
in the country.
And we know that states thathave stronger gun control laws
(12:13):
have fewer gun deaths.
So when I decided to run foroffice, I really came to this
through the lens of gettingbetter gun laws in Wisconsin.
I was working as an elementaryschool teacher, and we always
had to do lockdown drills.
And I saw the effect that it washaving on my students and my own
two daughters in school and justreally thought we needed to do
(12:34):
something.
So I started volunteering withMoms Demand Action for Gun
Sense, and one thing led toanother.
So when I ran for office itreally came out of that
experience and being in the cityWhen Governor Evers called a
special session to try to getthe legislature to take up
better gun laws and they gaveledout in a matter of seconds.
(12:55):
So I ran first and foremost ontrying to get better gun laws
and create safer communities.
And I defeated a 14 yearincumbent under gerrymandered
maps.
So as a gauge for where myconstituents stand on it, I
mean, I think that speaks prettypowerfully, and which is why
ever since I've been elected,I've been trying to get better
gun laws.
Absolutely.
(13:15):
And you know, I speak foreveryone in thanking you for
being such a steadfast advocatefor gun control and gun safety
in the state of Wisconsin.
You mentioned a couple groupsthere, you know, moms demand
action, which that in every townare many groups that have
spawned out of this epidemic ofgun violence.
And from some of the statisticsthat I saw.
Recently, since Columbine,which, you know, I was in school
(13:39):
at that time, I remember itvividly, what I was doing that
day in 1999, since that time,417 school shootings have
occurred, and there have beenover 383, 000 students affected
by gun violence and experiencedgun violence since that time,
just to kind of show you thelevity and show you, how far we
have come.
Thank you.
From this event, Columbine beingthe first time that we all
(14:01):
witnessed that, and now it'sjust everyday thing,
unfortunately, Megan, from yourstandpoint, can you describe
your experiences treatingchildren who have been victims
and have been exposed to gunviolence as a pediatric ER
doctor?
Yeah, absolutely.
So.
The gun violence I see almostdaily in a large academic
children's ER tends not to beschool mass shootings.
(14:24):
It tends to be one offs.
So I see accidental shootingswhere, you know, a child finds a
gun in the home and accidentallyshoots themselves.
I see.
Shootings where kids are playingwith a gun inappropriately.
So, you know, a 12 year old at afriend's house for a sleepover
and the house where thesleepover is happening has a gun
and unbeknownst to the parents,the kids play with it and
(14:46):
someone gets shot.
I definitely see sort of drivebys or you know, A barren
shooting that goes through homeceilings and home walls and
harms children.
And then I see targeted shootingalso, where kids are using guns
to express violence toward eachother.
Yeah.
And for all of our listeners,you know, Megan works at what we
(15:08):
call the level one traumacenter.
And so that's usually where allthe pediatric traumas are going
to go.
Usually in any, any largeinstitution.
And so we're very fortunate inMilwaukee and in Wisconsin to
have one of the two pediatriclevel one trauma centers
available.
But it is something that is veryeyeopening and something that is
affecting a lot of our youth.
You know, like Megan was saying,not even from the standpoint of
(15:29):
a mass shooting, But one offshootings and how commonplace
that we're seeing and a lot ofthat is due to some of the
things that we're going to talkabout in terms of our current
gun control laws.
So in getting to that, can youexplain to us just what are the
current gun control laws here instate of Wisconsin and how
effective or ineffective do youbelieve that they are at this
time?
Well, it depends what you're,you're currently talking about
(15:51):
in terms of, you know, whetherit's concealed carry or storage
in general.
The 3 most important.
And when I say most important, Ibelieve data driven.
If you're going to have 3 laws,you really need to get
background checks on everysingle gun sale.
You need to have a safe storageprovisions to make sure that
people are storing their gunsproperly where kids in
(16:11):
particular can't can't get themand you need to have extreme
risk protection orders, which isa means to take guns away from
people who, you know, aredangerous.
And are at risk of harmingthemselves or others.
And so in terms of those bigthree, Wisconsin does not have
any extreme risk protectionorders, sometimes called red
(16:32):
flag laws.
We have in terms of backgroundchecks, If you buy a gun at a
licensed firearms dealer, youwill have a background check run
on you.
However there is no backgroundcheck requirement for private
sales.
So I get constituents calling meall the time saying, My neighbor
is selling a gun at their garagesale.
That can't be illegal.
(16:54):
Unfortunately, it is.
Because that's a private sale, asale from one person to another,
if you're not a licensedfirearms dealer, is legal.
And that is how a lot of peopleget their hands on guns, whether
that's online or from a neighboror from somebody that you meet.
And if you remember back to theAsana spa shooting here in
Brookfield that is how domesticabuser got his hands on some
(17:16):
firearms.
We also don't have anyrequirements for safe storage
sort of to the gun owner.
There have been bills to have,you know, to repeal sales tax on
gun safes for requirements andall kinds of things, but we
haven't been able to pass any ofthose so we've nibbled around
the edges, but there's so muchmore Wisconsin can do.
Yeah, and you brought up acouple of good points there.
(17:38):
And one thing that I wanted totouch on was, a lot of the
fanfare and a lot of the mediathat was around specifically
that domestic abuser bill thatwent through the United States
Supreme Court, right?
2022 when there was this hugemovement and a lot of the guns,
right?
Lobbyists, that were on the Onthe fence of, we don't want to
(17:59):
remove this right for people whoare domestic, abusers which is
just arbitrary and just insaneconsidering the actual
statistics that we have to sayyou're five times higher if you
are in a domestic abusiverelationship to be a victim of
gun violence, if there is a gunin the home.
Right.
And so some of this, thesestatistics that we bring up all
the time you know, when Meganand I go to these events, when I
(18:19):
go to these events, these arethings that go in one ear and
out the other.
It seems like in some cases butI guess kind of getting to that,
How do you balance thoseconcerns of gun rights advocates
with those advocating forstricter gun laws?
In Wisconsin, everyone knows we,you know, up, up until, you
know, hopefully the nextelection we have been very
divided and, and the partieshave been very, very far apart.
(18:41):
For every gun you know, law thatusually Democrats try to
introduce on safe storage ortrying to close the, you know,
background check loophole.
There's another one that wantspermitless carry and wants
teachers to be armed in school.
So it's been really, really hardto, have both sides come
together.
For my personal experience, Ididn't grow up in a household
(19:02):
with a lot of guns.
We a Springfield rifle, but onlybecause my family's from
Springfield, Massachusetts,where they were from and so when
my father passed away he, youknow, went to the shooting range
with friends, a Republicanmember of the NRA.
I inherited his handguns.
That gave me an opportunity tolearn.
More about gun culture.
(19:22):
So I shipped the guns to me, sawall the loopholes in that
process.
I got my concealed carry permitwhere I learned that in
Wisconsin, you do not have tofire your gun to get a concealed
carry permit.
You never have to fire it.
You have to learn to check itand load it and unload it.
But I had to take an additionalcourse on basic handgun
certification in order to learnhow to fire My weapon.
(19:46):
And so it was like, I suddenly,it dawned on me that there are
people in target with concealedcarry permits who maybe have not
fired their gun or haven't beento the range in a very, very
long time.
And that's dangerous.
So what I try to do is get asinformed as I can, seek out
opinions from people who mightnot agree with me.
I've spoken with people who inthe firearms manufacturing
(20:08):
industry you know, people, youknow, who are I have a gun range
in my district.
I talk to the owner all thetime.
So to try to understand, to tryto bridge those divides, because
there has to be a level oftrust.
We honestly there, we don't wantto take guns away from
everybody.
And there are legitimate reasonswhere people feel unsafe.
(20:28):
We want people who own guns tostore them safely, to use them,
and to be trained and have thequalifications so that they're
not an accidental risk toothers.
Yeah, and you know, that's agood point in itself.
You know, I think what was mostprudent in the most recent
debates is the fact that, youknow, both candidates were, were
(20:49):
Harping on this this concept ofgun ownership and gun control,
right?
One way or the other.
And I think what the vicepresident brought up that was
very pointed with the fact thatshe said herself that she was a
gun owner and that she's nottrying to take anyone's gun away
from them.
And so I think that's kind ofthe, the, the moniker that a lot
of folks harp on.
And a lot of folks, find thatdivision.
(21:09):
What we're, what we're trying tosay in this, when we say gun
control, we're not trying totake your second amendment right
away from you.
We're just trying to make sothat children are safe, make it
so that the communities are safeand that we have provisions in
place in order to prevent thesemass shootings or emptying
multiple rounds per second, youknow in these, in these events.
So, and I guess that takes itback to a good, good question
(21:31):
for you, Megan, how do youapproach.
Or your colleagues approachdiscussions with, with parents
with regards to gun safety andfamilies as well.
Yeah, I, I agree with so much ofwhat you guys are saying.
I think.
I tend to think about gunviolence as a public health
issue, right?
So it's the number one killer ofchildren in America.
(21:51):
And when I say children, I meanzero through 17 years old.
And I think there just needs tobe a lot of sort of education
and awareness building aroundthat fact alone.
I think just talking to parentsand community members and
teachers about the fact thatGuns are the number one killer
of children is eye opening.
And that should change ourentire perspective.
(22:12):
I mean, yes, we need to passthese three laws.
We also, if we can look at gunviolence sort of through the
lens of public health, we canpass other laws or just change
behaviors that make guns.
sort of perceived as dangerousas they are.
So you know, I think there'ssort of a glorification of guns
(22:32):
in our culture.
Kids are playing video gamesthat have guns in them from a
very early age.
Guns are on TV.
Guns are on movies.
You know, kids play with guns,like little practice guns.
We've seen how terribly tragicthat can end when a police
officer is confused by a toygun.
So there's just a lot of likecultural changes I think we can
(22:53):
make.
And I, I liken it to somethinglike cigarette smoking.
That was a cultural shift thatwe went through about 20 years
ago.
Where all of a sudden it becameless cool.
That wasn't all of a sudden ittook, it took a couple of
decades.
Cigarettes became less cool,right?
Like in the.
60s, people were smoking onairplanes and smoking in
hospitals, and everyone in themovies who was cool had a
(23:16):
cigarette.
That has dramatically changednow.
I mean cigarette companies areforbidden to advertise to
children.
They are forbidden to advertisein magazines.
They I think just like the, eventhe packaging is different and
that has helped change sort ofthe culture of smoking.
And I think we can do a lot ofthe same things with guns.
So how I talk to parents aboutit is really just raising
(23:37):
awareness.
Did you know that guns are thenumber one killer of children?
I think another thing that Italked to parents about that red
flag law is so important.
Something we forget is that 60percent of gun deaths, this is
and in the United States aswell, are suicides by gun.
That's, That's not a schoolshooting.
That's not like, oh, a drive by.
That's like someone is in diremental health straits and needs
(24:01):
help.
And because they had easy accessto a gun, they went ahead and
they were very successful intheir suicide attempt.
Guns are extraordinarily lethalwhether you're suicide or
homicide.
And that's something we couldwork on too, is just like the
lethality of the bullets, thelethality of the gun.
So yeah, I guess, How I talkedabout a parents is just
education, safety.
(24:23):
You can, like Deb said, I'm nottrying to take away your gun.
I'm trying to make it safe foryour family to have one and for
you to feel safe just in oursociety.
I mean, I think I talked to alot of parents who.
really feel uncomfortable goingto parades or, you know, parties
or concerts because our culturehas sort of seeped in this idea
(24:44):
that everyone is armed,sometimes concealed, no one's
checking for it, no one'slicensed, no one's registered
and that's terrifying.
So I think we as a society needto kind of take that back and
say, no, actually this is notthe kind of place I want to
live.
This is not the kind of place Iwant to raise my kids.
And, you know, Megan, I grew upin a community that was very
(25:05):
similar to North side ofMilwaukee.
My parents, you know, both hadguns, grandparents had guns, and
it was more so of, a safetyissue.
Right.
It was an issue of, gettingplace to place.
And a lot of folks in Wisconsin,especially here in Milwaukee
feel that way.
But in, in my own personalexperience, I feel that the
frequency of these, theseshootings has changed, you know,
there was, there was always drabas it was always, unfortunately
(25:27):
something would go down on theplayground, et cetera, et
cetera.
But in the course of yourcareer, how has the frequency of
gun related injuries andchildren's changed over the
course that you've seen so far?
It has dramatically increased.
I mean, shockingly so.
I graduated my pediatricresidency, which is sort of the
first training you do aftermedical school in 2015.
(25:49):
And in the 3 years that I was inpediatric residency, I only saw
1 child shot with a gun.
I was living in a state at thetime that had much better gun
control laws than Wisconsin andMassachusetts, shout out.
But I, so when I came toWisconsin in 2015, it was
already increased.
Like there was a dramatic changejust coming from Massachusetts
to Wisconsin.
(26:10):
But then there was another hugeincrease around 2020.
COVID, George Floyd's murder.
Just sort of societal unrest.
There's a lot of sort ofstructural instability at that
time.
I'm talking about kids not goingto school, kids not having after
school pro programs, kids youknow, not having enough to eat.
So I think all of those issuesreally led to increased gun
(26:32):
violence.
And now we're at a point whereon average we see three kids
shot with a gun a week.
Oh, my gosh.
Yeah.
And you bring up so many otherthings that go into it.
Right?
So, there's so many otherparameters that go into gun
violence.
I know there's a lot ofcommunity groups like 414 life,
et cetera.
(26:53):
And even the Medical College ofWisconsin has its own violence
prevention, in addition to theOffice of Violence Prevention
for the city of Milwaukee,that's trying to intercalate
into, how can we prevent itbefore it gets to that point?
Right.
And so I think you bring up agood point that, you know, the
gun legislation and the, the guncontrol is one aspect of it, but
there are so many of these otherthings that we need to grapple
(27:15):
with in terms of, coming up withresolutions from a community
standpoint, and maybe even alegislative standpoint too.
So I'll bring that over to Deband I don't want to bring up any
PTSD for you here.
But can you talk about anyupcoming bills or any past
bills?
I know you said that thelegislative majority gaveled in,
gaveled out really quicklyduring the last session with
regards to any legislativeefforts in that respect.
(27:37):
But are there any that areupcoming with regards to
addressing gun control in thestate of Wisconsin?
Well, I certainly hope so.
This is where I try to inject alittle bit of positivity on a
subject that Chris is veryfamiliar with is our, our fair
maps.
And so this is a importantelection in Wisconsin, because
for the past decade, we havebeen under gerrymandered maps,
(28:01):
which means Democrats are invery blue districts, Republicans
are in very red districts.
We have a brand new legislativesession coming up after the
election in November.
We'll all be sworn in the firstweek of January.
Under those new maps, we havelegislators who are, there are a
lot more legislators who are inwhat we call the purple
districts.
So they're really 50 50.
Like, when I was elected in 2020and I flipped the district from
(28:23):
Republican to Democratic Irealized that, you know, I had
to represent all All of myconstituents, because it's a 50
50 district.
That's a different kind oflegislating than we have seen
from a lot of people who live inthese very, very red or very,
very blue districts.
I am optimistic that we canelect those people who have to
really listen to theirconstituents and what they're
saying.
(28:43):
Cause we know poll after pollshows 80, 82 percent of
Wisconsinites want to see thelegislature pass these very
basic gun safety laws.
So in terms of what bills arecoming up, I believe we're going
to kind of hit the reset buttonin January, where we're going to
have an opportunity, I hope, tostart talking across party lines
(29:05):
to those legislators who havebeen elected saying that they
support common sense gun laws.
So I was the chair of thelegislative gun safety coalition
where legislators come togetherand we talk about what bills
we're going to introduce.
I do hope that going forwardthat we might see a little bit
more bipartisanship and in thatcoalition and also public
hearings, we have never had apublic hearing on.
(29:28):
Background checks, red flaglaws, all of these basic
fundamentals.
And if we can't have a publichearing, if we can't talk about
it, we can't compromise and wecan't move forward.
Would love to see us at leaststart having, starting to have
those public hearings wherewe're talking about, you know,
what are your hesitations onthese bills, there's model
legislations from states allacross the country.
(29:50):
Let's come up with somethingthat works for Wisconsin.
Yeah.
And that was going to be my nextquestion, because a lot of our
listeners, when this topic cameup, they sent in questions
about, you know, what has beenthe holdup?
Like, you know, we have theevidence here.
We see things that are going on.
From your standpoint, Deb, doyou know?
Like, can you put yourself inthe mind of these folks who are
so, anti to any passage oflegislation to control?
(30:13):
Is there any incentive to not doit?
Or what are your thoughts?
In a word, it's been thepartisanship that's been driven
by the gerrymandered MAPS.
So I try to make it a point totalk to all of my Republican
colleagues.
And when I'm talking about thesekinds of gun bills, I try to do
it behind closed doors.
That way I can kind ofunderstand where they're coming
from, where some of the holdupAnd I know that there are some
(30:38):
of my Republican colleagues whowould be in favor of these
things coming forward.
That's the legend.
It's the leadership.
So the leadership in each partyis really the ones who decide
what bills get public hearings,what gets to move forward.
And so that was really where theholdup is because I am convinced
that there's more broad basedsupport of these bills But
(30:59):
leadership has, you know, I'mnot invited to Republican
leadership meetings, so I don'tknow exactly what's happening.
We'll have to see.
I don't know if it's the gunlobby, I don't know if it's just
ideological, but that we havenot been able to, you know, to
break through that wall.
So hopefully going forward, wecan start doing a little bit
more of that when we have morepeople who are looking at those
50, 50, 50 districts and arejust interested in breaking out
(31:23):
of the just ideological boxesthat we've been stuck in for so
long.
Yeah, absolutely.
And Megan, from that standpoint,too, I recently attended
Doctor's Day on the Hill, and Iwas able to meet, some of my
representatives, including Debhere, who we've already met, but
I was able to see Deb in personand my newly elected state
(31:43):
senator.
And we talked about, some thingsthat physicians can do from our
standpoint to advocate.
You do a lot of advocacy.
I'll, I'll attach your YouTubevideo as well for the speech
that you gave recently.
That was tremendous and Iappreciate you doing that.
What can physicians orhealthcare professionals do to
help provide that context thatyou just gave us here, you know,
(32:06):
talking about the day to daythings that you're seeing, how
it's really affecting folks onthe ground.
How can we be helpful?
Yeah, I think this is somethingI think about every day.
Like, what can I be doing?
Because that That feeling ofobstruction with a policy is
really frustrating, especiallywhen we learn that like 80
percent of people across bothparties really support these
(32:27):
common sense gun laws.
So, yeah, I think a lot of whatmy colleagues and I try to do is
the awareness building.
So I recently was able to speakto the Milwaukee County Medical
Society.
And same thing my colleague andI just sort of describe what we
see every day and how guns arethe number 1 killer of children.
And these are physicians who arein our county.
(32:48):
They're not necessarilypediatricians, but and not
necessarily ER doctors, but.
They see all the same patientswe do, and even among doctors,
there was a general sense ofsurprise that the number 1
killer of children, so, I thinkeducation is huge.
I also think that there is asense, and I think this comes
from racism, that gun violenceis a black problem in Milwaukee.
(33:12):
And I do think it's helpful forphysicians.
Reset the equation there and totalk about what's really
happening.
The problem is guns.
It's not the color of your skin.
So I do feel a sense ofresponsibility there.
I'm a white person and I cantell you like statistically what
we're seeing 60%.
Of gun deaths are suicide.
(33:33):
And actually, the majority ofthose deaths are white people.
And across the spectrum of race,I've seen kids shot because of
unsafely stored guns and youknow, guns that had been sold
illegally.
And it really has nothing to dowith race.
So that's another thing I thinkthat physicians can sort of just
shed light on.
(33:54):
Or kind of uncouple this ideathat like, this is a black
problem.
And then also I think as aPhysician who's a parent I try
to talk to families in myneighborhood and you know, my my
kids friends and stuff aboutanytime there's a play date I
ask if there's a gun in the homeand how it's stored.
And I think slowly that'sbecoming more common It's I
(34:15):
always find it interesting thatwe talk about like You know, is
anyone allergic to nuts?
When like Right, right, right.
Allergies are not even in thetop 10 causes for cancer.
No, no, but everybody's got theEpiPen.
Not everybody has a, has a lockbox, we should definitely be
talking about guns and gunstorage in the home.
And not necessarily, you know,these other things that we tend
(34:38):
to be obsessed with.
Like, is there a cat?
Like, I can deal with runny eyesand runny nose from that.
I cannot deal with a gunshotwound in a child.
So those are some of the ways Itry to advocate.
Another thing that I, I think isimportant is you know, you
mentioned that even in your ownfamily there was a feeling that
guns make you safer.
And I, I can totally appreciatethat feeling.
(35:00):
I have people in my family whofeel the same way.
And I, I just try to bring Factsto that idea, which is guns do
not make you safer, regardlessof gender age whether or not
you're a victim of domesticabuse or not a gun in your home
makes you more likely to die bygun.
And I don't think a lot ofpeople know that.
(35:21):
I think there's again, ourculture tends to glorify guns
and there's a feeling that like,oh, my God, we'll make if
there's a break in or if I don'teven know what people think
they're going to do with theirgun.
I'll keep it with me and I'll bethe person.
Yeah.
No.
Statistically speaking, you arefar more likely to die by gun if
you have a gun.
When I took my concealed carryclass, I was shocked because
(35:44):
that's what they kept talkingabout.
They kept talking about, youknow, when someone went, when
they break down your door, youhave five seconds to get your
fire, your family.
And when I raised my hand, I waslike, they're going for my
wallet and my iPad downstairs.
Like, I'm not going upstairs to,you know, statistically, like
(36:06):
tell me a little bit more and,but.
But that was the emphasis of theclass.
And then the instructor held meup for class, and he's like, I
know who you are.
It was, he was armed, and I'mlike, let's just, you know, I'm
trying to bring facts to thediscussion.
And that's where someone likeme, who has a D after my name,
(36:26):
You know, I, it's limited inwhat I can say, but for both of
you who have an MD after yourname, you are in every
community, every district, andyou bring that level of
credibility to the discussionwhere, you know, in the Capitol,
we might talk past each otherall day, every day.
And I'll just tell you a quickexample.
And I was the lead author on theextremist protection order bill.
(36:47):
I was trying to get one of myRepublican colleagues to sign on
and he wouldn't, you know, Aconstituent called him and he's
like, well, you know, I haven'thad a chance to look at it.
So and then the constituentcalled me and said, oh, I just
had this conversation.
He hasn't seen the bill.
So I literally took the billwalked it down to his office put
it in his hand.
I'm like call him in 10 minutesAnd he signed up It's this tag
(37:10):
team, like, you know, you, hecould hear from me all day, but
until he's hearing from aconstituent and that was a
member of the physicians for gunsafety group, like one of his
constituent doctors called him,told him the facts.
He had the bill and he ended upbeing a co sponsor.
Didn't get a public hearing, butit's, you know, it's those kinds
of working together you know, totry to bring both facts and
(37:30):
credible messengers into the,into the equation.
Yeah, no, absolutely.
And that brings up a good point.
Both of you brought up, youknow, Megan was bringing up the
fact that having more gunsdoesn't necessarily make you
safer.
There was a podcast I waslistening to.
It's called Military Mentor,where it's a retired military
guy who lives overseas.
He lives in Europe, and hebrought the same issue of, you
(37:52):
know, you feel like you need toget a gun.
Somebody else feels like theyneed to get a gun.
Or, right.
Et cetera, et cetera.
There's, there's no number tocap and essentially, it turns
into this environment wherethere is a plethora of guns and
there, there increases theamount of chance that you're
going to have a shooting or, oran adverse event.
If somebody pulls a gun on you,You're obligated to pull your
(38:13):
gun, et cetera, et cetera.
He was mentioning in Europe, youknow, this, this is not a thing.
Like it's not, it's notsomething that he's the expat,
right?
This is not something that hesees when disagreements crop up
over and over again.
So it's definitely something,unfortunately, that is
ingrained, in our culture and inour society.
And like you said, it's cool toa certain extent, Megan, right?
It's been made this cool thingyou know, like cigarettes once
were, but it is a devastatingfactor into our public health.
(38:37):
But with regards to what Deb wassaying too, you know, there are
multiple bipartisan gunapproaches, control measures
that have been done in otherstates.
Do you know of any specificallythat, that Wisconsin can learn
from Deb, in terms of any otherstates or any other areas that
have benefited from bipartisansupport?
Large part bipartisanship hasusually arrived, unfortunately,
(39:01):
after some sort of mass shootingor event in the news.
I, you know, I'm thinking of in,in Maine where they had the, the
shooter and one of the localRepublicans, you know, finally
came out and, regretted that hehad been standing in between you
know, standing in the way of, ofgetting gun laws.
And I'm always telling mycolleagues, like, Let's not wait
till Wisconsin's, right?
(39:22):
Like, let mm-Hmm, let's get infront of it so people don't have
to die.
Before, before we take actionI'll give a a, a shout out on a
couple of things on the Journal.
Sentinel did an amazing seriesreporter John Dietrich it's
called The Behind the GunSeries, where, you know, he was
talking with gun owners and, andbringing in suicide, and you
know, where that factors in.
(39:42):
So we can have these, thesehonest conversations.
One of the speakers was MikeCedini.
And he's at Walk the TalkAmerica where he's in the gun
industry and they are trying tobring both suicide prevention
into working in the gunindustry, but also, you know,
bringing that perspective of gunowners to the debate.
(40:02):
I mean, I talk with a lot of mydemocratic colleagues where
they're just like, all guns arebad.
We should get rid of them all.
And I'm like too late.
They're not going to happen.
There was a constitution thatwas signed.
If you want to go back.
Yeah, well, there was a gun shopbill, which should have passed
where we're giving, you know,suicide education and funding
for it to gun shops so that theycan help identify people who may
(40:25):
be coming in, who are at risk.
And there's a real reluctance onthe part of a lot of Democrats.
Like, why would we give money togun shops?
I was like, so people don't die.
So there's education on bothsides that really, really.
Has to happen.
And so, you know, looking atwhat they're doing in in other
states and bridging thosedifferent industries hopefully
Wisconsin doesn't have to waittill I'm actually doing in order
(40:47):
to do it.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Megan, more so in your opinion,What policies or laws, would
have the most significant impacton reducing gun related injuries
and deaths in children, in termsof the injuries that you see
commonly?
I think safe storage iscritical.
So many of the kids I see haveaccidentally shot themselves
(41:10):
with a family gun.
Or even, I mean, terriblytragically, I've seen parents
actually shoot their ownchildren with a gun.
So I think that would be huge.
We actually are trying, in myER, we've gotten a grant to give
out gun locks and gun safestowards this measure.
I do think going to our, one ofour previous topics, There is
(41:31):
sort of this like idea thatlike, Oh, if my gun is locked,
then I won't be ready when thereis the home invasion, whatever.
So we do need to work on that alittle bit.
But I, I also think there wetalked a little bit about like
the lethality of guns andbullets.
There have been like incredible,I don't even know the word for
it, like technological advanceshow lethal our weapons are.
(41:53):
And I don't think any of that isnecessary.
Like you know, I don't know whywe need AR 15s.
I don't know why those need tobe legal.
I, some of these like, you know,the rounds that just keep going
and you don't even have to nonstop and pause.
Bump stops.
Yeah, exactly.
I don't think that needs to belegal.
3D printing of guns, like anypolicy that will just Like,
(42:15):
let's just slow down a littlebit, you know, have a gun
safely, register it, have alicense, take some classes, just
like you would to like drive acar, very similar.
And then and then the, like thebullets also the single gunshot
wound that we see in childrenthat just.
tears apart their little bodiesis devastating.
(42:38):
And that is precisely because ofthese like hollow point bullets
that break into a million shardsonce they're inside and they
ricochet everywhere.
I don't know why those need tobe legal either.
Like, can, can we just go backto regular bullets that like
will kill a deer if you need to?
But like, I don't, I thinkthere's a lot of policy around
like the gun itself or thebullet itself that we could work
(43:00):
on, including like biometriclocks.
Why isn't it, why isn't everygun have a biometric lock?
You need to like use yourthumbprint to turn the gun on.
That would be quick.
You don't have to like, youknow, fuss with the lock or
anything.
Just make that, Every gun.
You can't have a gun unless youhave a biometric lock.
I'm not a representative though,so these are just my random
ideas.
Yeah, no, absolutely.
Absolutely.
(43:20):
And I think What you're sayingis common sense to most people,
but there is just this attitudewhere, you know, you can, you
know, throw facts around anddata and talk, I mean, talk
about the bullets, and then theyjust, you know, They will look
at you and just say secondamendment and walk away.
Well, I mean, you know, nothingis absolute.
I mean, so we, I always try to,to explain how we need to get
(43:42):
back to a culture of gun safetyand we, the NRA used to provide,
you know, education.
And that's where you went to getyour hunter education classes.
And now we've got, you know,lobbyists, you know, in the
Wisconsin state Capitol wearingAR 15 lapel pins.
And that is just beyond thepale, so we, we have to, you
(44:04):
know, to, to start tipping backand, and, you know, responsible
gun owners, modeling that kindof behavior and showing, you
know, you, you can own guns andyou have the right, but you also
have the responsibility to do itsafely for the safety of your
family and for everyone aroundyou.
As you would a car, right?
As you would any other devicethat could potentially harm
(44:26):
folks.
I think, especially with thatsort of mantra and that behavior
of wearing the lapel pins andthumping the chest and things
like that.
I often invite those people.
And I did during Dr.
Day on the Hill a couple ofyears ago, too.
Come and come with me to the ERif you want to, like, I want you
to see what I see.
And before, you know, Megan, Iquoted an excerpt from your
(44:49):
article that you did in theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel.
And the title of it was, youknow, what keeps an ER doctor up
at night?
The sound a mother makes afterher child dies.
I don't want anyone to hear thatsound.
I don't want anyone toexperience the loss of a child
when it is easily preventable,you know, and for the sake of,
for folks, to walk around andfeel as though, you know, they
have this bravado about them.
(45:10):
That's ridiculous.
Yes.
I totally agree.
I was just at like a bouncyhouse with my kids and there was
a mom there walking around withan AR 15 t shirt that said, And
I, I had, I'm sure it's from myPTSD from hearing that sound way
too many times I had thisvisceral reaction.
I almost started crying.
Like, wow, what's, what have wedone as a country as like, as
(45:35):
individuals?
I said, a parent would wear thatto a child gear event, like
that, that sound changes you andseeing the stuff that we see,
you know, over and over again,it changes you and it changes
your perspective.
Like I said, you know, I grew uparound a lot of gun violence,
unfortunately, but being in thatsituation now as an adult, now
as a parent, that changes yourwhole purview and your whole
(45:56):
perspective of how you see it,especially when you're seeing it
over and over again, it becomesa part of you.
Unfortunately, a hundredpercent.
Yeah.
So we'll go ahead and close out,you know, Deb, I'll start with
you.
Any closing statements that youwanted to provide to our
listeners, anything that we cando in, in terms of helping to
promote, any gun safe laws, anylegislative measures, things of
that nature.
(46:18):
Right now is a perfect time tobe reaching out to your state
legislators and candidates forstate legislature, because we
have a unique opportunity now tohold them accountable you know,
find out where they stand makesure you're voting for them.
accordingly that you are votingfor candidates who say, yes, I
believe in the second amendmentand I also believe Wisconsin can
(46:40):
and should be doing betterbecause too many kids are dying
because too many people aredying and we need to make sure
that we can take guns away frompeople who pose a risk to
themselves or others and thenafter they're elected.
Hold them accountable.
I, I really like to tell peoplebecause, you know, I, I used to
bring volunteers to Madison totalk to their state legislators.
(47:02):
When, when they say like, Oh,well, that bill doesn't have a
public hearing.
What are you doing to get it?
A public hearing?
Are you talking to yourcolleagues?
You know, when can I expect tohear from you?
Just making sure they're hearingfrom, from you, particularly
your constituents.
You can write to legislators allover the place, but if you vote
for that person and your vote isputting them in office, you need
(47:23):
to go to their town halls andtheir meetings and make sure
that they're hearing from youbecause that kind of pressure is
what we can, is what is neededto move these bills forward so
we can just have publichearings, start talking about
them.
If we can't talk about theproblem, we can't solve the
problem.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And Megan, any, anything thatfolks can do from your
(47:45):
perspective, any, any closingthoughts yeah, I think for any
parents in the audience, I wouldsay if you have a gun in your
home, consider getting rid of itjust because you are safer
without a gun than your childrenare as well.
If you are a parent without agun, I would make sure that
everywhere your child is, issafe from guns.
So whether that's play dates oryou know, Going over to even
(48:07):
like family Thanksgiving, like,make sure that every environment
your child is in is safe from agun to physicians and the
audience.
I, I would say, ask yourpatients about guns, especially,
you know, if your primary caredoctor or pediatrician, are the
guns in the home?
How are they stored?
Do you feel safe?
These are questions that cansave lives.
And then also, work with yourphysician colleagues to, you
(48:30):
have a voice, you can talk toyour representatives you can
provide gun locks, you can marchin parades and do these podcasts
like I do, I do think physicianshave a voice that people tend to
listen to, so use it.
And then, yeah, I just think ingeneral, I would love for us to
ask ourselves, like, I, I, Rightnow, when I'm asked to speak
(48:52):
about guns, I say yes toanybody, like whether it's, you
know, the gun shop owner or thewomen's league of voters, or I'm
talking soon to like the retirededucators of some county.
Sure.
Perfect.
I just want everyone to knowthat guns are the number one
killer of children and this isnot an okay way to live.
So I think just like creatingthat conversation, like building
(49:14):
that awareness is reallyimportant for everyone.
We're all affected by, like yousaid, especially the educators.
Now, you know, I, I couldn'timagine going to school.
For educators as well as thestudents to, you know, how that
is going to affect thempsychologically for, for years
to come now, because this istheir reality, gun shooter,
active shooter drills are areality for them, right?
(49:36):
And so.
You know, this is something thataffects all of us.
It's not a partisan issue.
This is a Wisconsin issue.
This is a, an American issuethat we need to continue to push
forward and, and, bring somemeaningful change to, I always
tell students, I didn't grow upwith lockdown drills because it
wasn't an issue until.
Columbine and until our gun lawsgot looser, we can get back to
(49:57):
that.
I mean, our kids shouldn't growup in this kind of a world.
We need to get back to a placewhere we don't have to have
them.
There are guns everywhere now,but we need some common sense
solution.
And to start talking about, youknow, ways that we can work
across the aisle because wedon't, we're the only country in
the world that lives this way.
This is not an issue in anyother country, which tells us
(50:18):
our solutions that we can beusing.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Well, representative Andraca Dr.
Schultz, thank you both so muchfor coming out and looking
forward to talking more andworking together on some
meaningful change Thank you somuch.
Thank you.
This has been great.
There was a recent study.
They came out from theRockefeller Institute of
(50:39):
government.
Where the foundation took a lookat public mass shootings and
countries similar to the UnitedStates.
What it found was by no surprisethat the United States was
ranked number one in terms ofmass shootings.
At 109 shootings in thattimeframe.
The next country.
That was number two on the listwas France.
(51:02):
And if you care to guess whattheir numbers of mass shootings,
where.
It was six.
This is a uniquely Americanissue that we have of mass
shootings and shootings ingeneral.
Again, I invited.
Doctor schultz on as well asrepresentative Andraca to give
you some background into wherewe are in the state of
(51:24):
Wisconsin, but, you know, We'reat a point now, guys, we got to
do something.
This is ridiculous.
There was no reason.
While we should have.
Such a disparity.
And the number of shootings ascompared to the number two in
the list, which is France.
Again, six, two are over 100mass shootings in this
timeframe.
(51:44):
Regardless of how you feel.
About going control and yourdesire to own guns.
No one is trying to take yourguns away from you.
I guarantee you again, I grewup.
With family members that all ownguns.
I grew up in a community whereit was known.
That if you didn't have a gun,in some cases, You felt as
(52:05):
though you were unable toprotect yourself and unable to
protect your household.
I get that.
But at the same time, Thereshould be no one.
Who is lobbying at a federallevel.
There should be no one who ismaking Supreme court testimony.
To the affirmative.
To allow some individuals tohave guns.
(52:25):
And by that specifically, whenI'm talking about.
Are the lobbyists who wereadvocating for folks who were
accused of domestic abuse andstill do to this day.
Advocating for them.
To maintain the right.
To hold guns.
We have been shown in the data,and this is objective data.
This isn't my opinion.
This is not dependent upon checkWisconsin.
(52:46):
This is data that you canresearch.
A domestic abuser who has accessto a gun.
And the people who live withthem.
They have a five time risk.
Of that perpetrator using thegun against them to ultimately
kill them.
We know this to be true.
Regardless of how you feel,regardless of how you feel about
(53:08):
your constitutional right tohold a gun.
We need to follow the evidencewe need.
To reduce the amount ofshootings.
That we have in this country.
We need to have common sense gunlaws, period.
No one else around the world hasthese issues, but the United
States.
For anyone who is contrary tothat, I would invite you to come
(53:30):
and volunteer at the EDS.
I would invite you to reach outto me if you want to.
Get any more information?
I'm sure Dr.
Schultz would feel the same way.
But we are seeing babies die.
We're seeing people die and getshot.
Having significant disabilityday in and day out in this
state.
And around the country.
(53:50):
These are shootings and injuriesthat are preventable.
And as an ER doctor.
I am tired of holding hands.
Of people who are shot.
Who don't have anyone there withhim.
And in some cases, kids who aredying.
That have no one else in theroom with them at the time.
We need to do better.
(54:11):
Take this opportunity.
To reflect.
On gun laws in your community.
And gun laws in your state.
And wherever you're listening tothis recording.
Make sure that you have all thefacts.
When you're going to the polls.
When you're making thesedecisions, research your
candidates.
And research their stances onsome of these issues that we're
(54:32):
going to be talking about overthe next couple episodes the
only way.
To make a change.
Is to vote.
The only way.
That we're going to get to aplace.
Where we feel safer.
Where our communities feelsafer.
Well, we don't have to worryabout when we drop our kids off.
Is that the last time we'regoing to see our children.
(54:53):
The only way we're going to getto that.
Is if we.
Use our civic abilities.
To put people in places.
That can make these decisionsfor our communities.
Here's the state of Wisconsin.
Is representative on Draka CIT.
We've gaveled out of session.
We're playing political games.
At the state level.
(55:14):
When there are children dying.
Period.
The children die.
And for any representative outthere.
Who was in the legislativemajority, feel free to talk to
me.
I've reached out to several,feel free to talk to me.
If you really want to knowwhat's going on in these
streets, if you really want toknow what's going on in ECRs.
Feel free to reach out to me.
I can show you.
(55:35):
But you need to do something.
We're done with this as alwaystake care of yourselves, take
care of each other.
And if you need me.
Come and see me.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.