Walk the Talk America Archives -

Nice Donation To Walk The Talk America

Walk the Talk America or WTTA is an initiative from within the firearms industry to assist in suicide prevention along with mental health issues. Founded in 2018 by Michael Sodini, who was then with Bersa and Eagle Imports, WTTA seeks to find innovative ways to bring the industry and the mental health community together with the shared objective of decreasing suicides and increasing treatment.

This past week they received a $20,000 donation from Chattanooga Shooting Supplies, Inc. CSSI is now a Silver Sponsor of WTTA.

From the press release:

“Mental illness and suicide affect many individuals and families throughout the country, and that includes within the firearms and 2A community. We at CSSI want to play an active role in helping to find meaningful solutions to reduce the stigma that surrounds mental health within the gun community. We are honored to support WTTA’s mission,” commented Ron Staffieri, CEO of CSSI.
“We are humbled by CSSI’s generous donation and support and proudly welcome them as our newest Silver Sponsor,” Michael Sodini, WTTA founder, said. “With every donation, we can provide more tools and resources to individuals, companies, and retailers. Our goal is to bring together not only the firearms industry and mental health resources but to make them available to all firearms owners. Donations like this from CSSI help to support our mission and we couldn’t do what we do without companies like CSSI.”

Michael Sodini has been a guest in the past on the Polite Society Podcast to talk about the work of WTTA. The firearms community as a whole has done a lot on suicide prevention. I wish I could really say the same about the gun prohibition industry. While they designate days as “firearm suicide prevention day“, they don’t provide resources beyond saying “lock it up” and pushing safe storage laws. Contrast that with WTTA’s resources which include classes, instructor slideshows, flyers for dealers, and links to even more resources.

Ruger Is Doing Good

WTTA or Walk the Talk America is a non-profit initiative originated within the firearms industry to tackle the issue of suicide by firearm. Now they have just received a $25,000 donation from Sturm, Ruger and Co.

From the press release:

This donation will go a long way to supporting the WTTA’s efforts to educate mental health experts and firearms industry professionals on the critical need for information and communication between and within our industries to help curb the tide of suicides and gun violence,” Mike Sodini, founder of Walk The Talk America, commented.

“We are happy to support the great work that Mike Sodini and Walk the Talk America has done to bring mental health awareness and suicide prevention to the forefront,” added Chris Killoy, President and CEO of Ruger.

For over four years, WTTA has spearheaded a movement within the firearms industry to bridge the gap between mental health and responsible firearm ownership with the goal of reducing suicide by firearm and gun violence. Through educational material, podcasts, and training programs, WTTA is paving the way of educating mental health professionals about the gun culture and breaking down the negative stigmas around mental health for gun owners.

“We strongly believe we are saving lives, and we thank Ruger for supporting our common mission to end gun-related violence and suicide,” Sodini said.

The more the firearms industry donates and works to tackle this issue, the better. Unlike the gun control industry who uses the numbers from suicides to plump up the number of deaths in which a firearm is used, the firearms industry is actually doing something. I don’t see any of Bloomberg’s billions going to suicide prevention. I could be wrong on that and will gladly acknowledge it if I am wrong.