As a pediatrician, I spent years looking at firearm safety through a clinical lens—as a major public health crisis and a tragic statistic. But after practicing in South Florida during the Parkland shooting and becoming a mother myself, the stakes became deeply personal. My husband is an ER doctor who sees the devastating aftermath of gun violence firsthand, and as a parent, I refuse to accept that this is now the leading cause of death for American children. We cannot just treat the symptoms of this crisis in our clinics; we have to get out ahead of it, which is why I expanded my platform to advocate for change outside the exam room.

Connecting with grassroots leaders like Angela Ferrell-Zabala reminds us that we don’t have to succumb to helplessness or political polarization. Real change happens in our everyday lives—like normalizing a simple question about secure firearm storage before a playdate, or supporting local legislation in our own backyards. Advocacy is a massive ecosystem, and as parents and healthcare providers, our voices carry immense weight. By breaking down political divides and working together, we can move past the noise and build a world where our children are safe to just be kids.

What we discuss:

• Why treating gun violence as a public health issue is the key to real safety reform.

• The truth behind the leading cause of death for children in America and how to change it.

• How Moms Demand Action became a leading volunteer movement against gun violence.

• Easy, non-confrontational ways to ask other parents about safe firearm storage before playdates.

• Why ER doctors, pediatricians, and parents must work together to prevent gun injuries.

• Breaking down the impact of America’s historic federal gun safety legislation.

• How grassroots advocates are successfully outlawing 3D-printed firearms and machine gun conversion kits.

• How to find common ground and have constructive conversations with responsible gun owners.

To connect with Angela Ferrell-Zabala follow her on Instagram @momsdemandaction and @FerrellZabala, check out all her resources at https://momsdemandaction.org/ and text “READY” to  64433.

00:00 – Introduction

02:18 – Meet Angela Ferrell-Zabala

04:19 – Shifting from Helplessness to Action

08:35 – The Diverse Impact of Gun Violence

13:58 – Finding Common Ground Across Political Lines

19:07 – Pressing Legislative Priorities & Recent Wins

24:39 – Simple Ways for Parents to Advocate

28:44 – Finding Joy and Closing Thoughts

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00;00;00;03 – 00;00;29;01

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

I felt that the magnitude of that responsibility every single time I held my little one for the first time, and it’s the weight of the world. You’re like, I want to make sure you’re safe, and I want to make sure that I’m creating a space our world for you, or helping to create a path where you can just thrive and be and grow into the the human that you’re going to be.

 

00;00;29;03 – 00;00;56;03

Dr. Mona

Hello, it’s Doctor Mona, your online pediatrician, your confidant, and your go to mom friend for all things parenting, child health, development, and hopefully advocacy. Welcome to the PedsDocTalk podcast, where we have honest, real conversations to help you feel informed and ready to show up for your kids and ask. Community. This episode is airing in time for Wear Orange Day, which falls on the first Friday of June each year.

 

00;00;56;05 – 00;01;19;12

Dr. Mona

It is a movement in America to honor the lives lost to gun violence and to bring communities together around prevention. And as you all know, I hope you know this because you follow me on my social and you’re here. Gun violence is a public health crisis. Gun reform education is in my lane because I am a pediatrician, and we should all care about the safety of our communities.

 

00;01;19;12 – 00;01;44;09

Dr. Mona

But I speak about gun reform, education, all of this stuff. There is a ad that stays with me. So it’s the ad petition for stronger gun laws. And I shared all my social as well. A man walks into an office and raises a rifle and so he fires one round. But instead of firing round after round, he has to stop and reload after every single shot.

 

00;01;44;09 – 00;02;07;12

Dr. Mona

The way is guns worked when the Second amendment was written, and as he does that everyone’s fleeing, so he isn’t able to actually harm anybody. Then the words appear on the screen. Guns have changed. So why haven’t our laws? And that is the whole thing right there. Here is what we know. Gun violence is now the number one cause of death for children and teens in the United States.

 

00;02;07;12 – 00;02;32;03

Dr. Mona

Not cancer, not car accidents, guns. And compared to every other developed nation in the world. No country comes close to our rates of gun violence. These are not opinions. These are facts. And because of those facts, this conversation matters. Today I’m joined by a very special guest, Angela Farrell Zabala, the executive director of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

 

00;02;32;04 – 00;02;56;24

Dr. Mona

This is the grassroots arm of Everytown for Gun Safety and one of the largest volunteer led movements in the country working on this issue. She’s also a mom of four. We talk about how to move from helplessness to action, what common ground actually looks like across the aisle when it comes to gun reform, and the small things every parent can do right now to advocate.

 

00;02;56;26 – 00;03;12;23

Dr. Mona

Remember, if you love this conversation, subscribe to the channel, share it, tag us on social media and make sure you keep this conversation going. Let’s get into it.

 

00;03;12;25 – 00;03;16;11

Dr. Mona

Angela, thank you for taking your time today to join me.

 

00;03;16;14 – 00;03;20;05

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Doctor Mona, it’s so exciting to be here with you today. Thank you for inviting me.

 

00;03;20;05 – 00;03;40;10

Dr. Mona

And as I said in the intro, this platform, Pete’s talk talk I talk, I talk about it like it’s my own talk show because it kind of is, right? I mean, I’ve created this media platform, whether it’s on YouTube, podcasts, social media, where I not only individually get to educate and promote advocacy about various topics, I get to invite people like yourself on the show.

 

00;03;40;10 – 00;04;00;09

Dr. Mona

And so I’m excited to connect not only today, but I know this is going to be a networking conversation for the future and how myself and my community can stay involved with you. And you’re now the Executive Director of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, one of the largest grassroots movements addressing gun violence in the country.

 

00;04;00;11 – 00;04;16;18

Dr. Mona

But before this national roll, you were also a mom raising four kids. A lot of my listeners are parents or care for children in some way. Can you share the moment that first pulled you into this work, and how your experience as a mother shaped the way you stepped into this advocacy role?

 

00;04;16;21 – 00;04;35;04

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Yeah. Thank you for that question. I just before I answer that, I just want to say thank you for your work and your leadership. Because I think when we think about pediatricians and those that are giving care, to children, it’s just so important. And I think this, working together and having this conversation is really incredible.

 

00;04;35;09 – 00;04;58;27

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

So, yeah, you know, your mom, you get it. When I first had I have twins, and then I have two little ones that I call the singletons. And I think for me, I’ve always wanted to be a mom, and it’s such an incredible responsibility. And I felt that the magnitude of that responsibility every single time I held my little one for the first time.

 

00;04;59;00 – 00;05;19;08

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

And it’s the weight of the world. You’re like, I want to make sure you’re safe, and I want to make sure that I’m creating a space our world for. You are helping to create a path where you can just thrive and be and grow into the the human that you’re going to be. And every single time I had a child that was like, was reinforced.

 

00;05;19;13 – 00;05;43;18

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

But not only was it about my own children, I started thinking broadly about these little humans that come into the world and what our responsibility is to them. So of course, when we think about violence prevention, gun violence prevention, which happens to be the leading cause of death for children in this country, not childhood cancer, is, you know, not car accidents, but gun violence.

 

00;05;43;20 – 00;06;13;14

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Me knowing that I had to do something, I had to get off the sidelines and figure out how I was using my voice, my time, my talent to do something about it. So I think that’s really what sparked it was looking into the eyes of my children, but also seeing other folks. And by the way, learning about all of the parents that have had to unfortunately bury their children or children that are impacted, because whether it’s trauma or injury, because of firearm violence.

 

00;06;13;14 – 00;06;16;03

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

So there was no other choice but for me to step up.

 

00;06;16;09 – 00;06;32;26

Dr. Mona

Well, I’m so glad you did. And it resonates so deeply. You know, I was a pediatrician before I became a mother, and I don’t know if a lot of people know this, but I, I started my stock talk platform, like as a social media channel, right? Instagram. And it was a result of being burned out in my clinical profession.

 

00;06;32;29 – 00;06;54;12

Dr. Mona

I just feel like I didn’t have enough time, but also what I was founding, what I was finding was happening is on my personal Instagram, which no longer really exists because I post on feedstock talk, I would do advocacy on my personal Instagram, and one of the advocacy was about gun violence. And so I do post. And then I started realizing I’m like, not all of my personal family members need this information and maybe I need a bigger platform.

 

00;06;54;12 – 00;07;15;06

Dr. Mona

And so then I was like, why don’t I create a better platform bigger that’s focused on child health advocacy, all of it. And that was sort of part of the inspiration as well. Seeing a problem and saying to myself, well, how can I use my voice and advocacy to create a bigger impact? And, you know, I said it in the intro and, my husband’s an ER doctor.

 

00;07;15;06 – 00;07;32;25

Dr. Mona

I’m a pediatrician, you know, as a general pediatrician, I don’t see the acuity of a kid being shot in my office. Right. Because I’m not an ER doctor, but my husband, he has seen that, right? He has seen local gun violence, mass shootings. He’s seen that. And he’s had to stabilize or unfortunately tell family members that they’ve died.

 

00;07;32;25 – 00;08;05;19

Dr. Mona

And so that perspective puts me seeing those young kids, maybe their parent died from gun violence or just to speak transparently. I was working in South Florida when the parkland, Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting happened. And although you’re not in the I wasn’t practicing the exact city that permeated our entire community. And we had children who were so scared whether they were living in our area or had friends who had died at that school, and that impact all of the school shootings that have happened before then.

 

00;08;05;19 – 00;08;31;16

Dr. Mona

You know, how change is never happening. It all just started to really compound. And then you become a mom and you’re like, okay, like, where are the changemakers? Like, why are we not doing anything? And I think what’s happening right now, Angela, is that it just feels like it’s more constant in the news cycle. And many parents in my community tell me that they feel overwhelmed or even numb because it can seem so big and unchangeable.

 

00;08;31;19 – 00;08;42;02

Dr. Mona

When you talk to communities through mom demand action for gun sense in America, how do you help people move from that feeling of helplessness into believing that progress is possible?

 

00;08;42;03 – 00;08;58;03

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Yes, a very good question, because it can feel like pushing a mountain up a mountain or, you know, sometimes it feels, you know, I’ve I’ve had people say, you know, I just throw my hands up because what am I going to do? It’s inevitable. But I have to remind people this is not an inevitability. And I do that in a couple of different ways.

 

00;08;58;05 – 00;09;25;17

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

First of all, you know, before I came to this work, I did work in different what I would call social justice are movement areas related to ensuring primarily my focus is women and families, but making sure that, folks are set up for success, that communities can be healthy, communities can thrive, and that we have pathways to tackling some of the concerns and problems that are that, folks are facing.

 

00;09;25;17 – 00;10;03;00

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

And I saw women in particular as central to that, especially as being mother is oftentimes of the people that are multitasking and figuring out how to navigate community, and holding community up in many ways. And so when I’m going out and about the two things that I think about, our one I think about kind of historically and just think about the life of this country, how amazing that we’ve had people throughout time stand up for things and ideals that were meant to broaden and make sure broader swaths of the population could actually experience a meaningful, fruitful life.

 

00;10;03;00 – 00;10;21;14

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

And I see that as similar. And so when I can mark back and I can have those conversations at times when maybe something wasn’t, you know, this is a time before when we think about childhood safety, seatbelts, car seats, things like that. We’re in a thing. I remember being, you know, I’m not going to give my age doctor moment, but I certainly in a time.

 

00;10;21;17 – 00;10;26;28

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Seatbelts for a little bit. Yeah. In the back of a station wagon. Rolling all around, having the best time of my life, I think.

 

00;10;27;00 – 00;10;36;29

Dr. Mona

I was in the bridge. I was in the bridge generation of that. I was in the back of a trunk, like a, you know, SUV. I mean, just hanging out. So I think I was on that bridge. So you’re not.

 

00;10;37;02 – 00;11;02;16

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

A similar place. But I remember rolling around and doing all that and it it took, you know, unfortunately tragedy and harm. And then people standing up to say we have to demand better. It can’t just be patchwork. And so there is and there’s many examples you can look at of that happening. So this country has set us up in a way that we understand how to see a problem and how to solve it together.

 

00;11;02;21 – 00;11;33;19

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

And there’s different levers we can pull. We can talk about that a little later. But I basically let folks know that you I don’t care how small you think it is. You even have a conversation with a family member. When a parent, another parent, if your kid is going to go on a playdate or something about these kinds of things that are basic common sense safety measures that you take to protect your child, then it actually lessens this idea of, I have to know everything or be able to change policy or do this now, a simple conversation.

 

00;11;33;19 – 00;11;49;21

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

So when I have those conversation with people, and this is really when you think about Moms Demand Action, that is where it comes from. It’s about an individual that is looking, you know, they may have either themselves be a survivor of gun violence, have seen something, or just feel like they need to lend their voice to this cause.

 

00;11;49;28 – 00;12;04;28

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

And then they figure out like what it is I can be doing in my community. What gifts do I have? What time do I have? What experience do I have? And it’s it’s that simple. One step at a time, and you have no idea the kind of progress we can make together.

 

00;12;05;00 – 00;12;23;06

Dr. Mona

Now let’s take a quick break to hear from our sponsors who support helps us keep bringing you this show. Oh oh, I love that. And I love that you’re bringing up looking at your strengths. Right. And I always say in advocacy, there’s not one right way to do it. Right? I give the example that I now have this online platform.

 

00;12;23;06 – 00;12;42;25

Dr. Mona

What I love doing is online platform education, right. Maybe it’s a social media post podcast like this. I’m not. I’ve never really been the rally or like the go to a protests. Like whether it’s a peaceful protest or not, I’ve just never been that person. And maybe one day I will. I think I would like to be, but my advocacy looks different than maybe someone else’s like.

 

00;12;43;00 – 00;13;00;16

Dr. Mona

But you have to think and pick and choose what you feel comfortable with. But do like there’s no there’s no we’re not going to change the world if we don’t do. And I love your positivity. I heard, Shannon, Shannon, what’s on my show? Who is the found? One of the founding members of Moms Demand Action. But I also had someone named Sharon McMahon.

 

00;13;00;16 – 00;13;17;27

Dr. Mona

I don’t know who you’re. If you’re familiar with who she is, she does a lot of government education. She’s like America’s government teacher. And she talked exactly what you said about we we can’t let the people who are trying to make us feel hopeless when right that when you’re feeling hopeless, that’s a sign that you actually care so deeply.

 

00;13;17;27 – 00;13;23;03

Dr. Mona

And like you said, let’s do let’s do something about it. And and reminder is so beautiful.

 

00;13;23;03 – 00;13;42;08

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Yes, yes. And we can and I, I love what you said. And I just want to put some emphasis on this. When you think about this, I like to think about it as an ecosystem. Right. We think about ecosystems. There is a lot of things that, are working together, supporting each other. Not everything has to be the same.

 

00;13;42;08 – 00;14;04;24

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

And that’s the same when you’re talking about change. We all come collectively together to figure out what can I can contribute, what can you the beauty of this, we’re actually in this movement together, and you are doing it from a lens that is so important because I am not a pediatrician. I am not a medical doctor. And you’re and also thinking about your husband as an ER doctor, you mentioned that he is on the the back end of things.

 

00;14;04;24 – 00;14;22;01

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

He’s often trying to help to bring people out of a moment of crisis or tragedy, to pass them off, to get them. You’re on the front end, which is really beautiful because you can start to have these conversations or you can notice things. So that is important along with me doing what I’m doing so that we can move it.

 

00;14;22;01 – 00;14;27;05

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

So I think we all have a place in this ecosystem when it comes to keeping our kids and community safe.

 

00;14;27;09 – 00;14;43;17

Dr. Mona

Yeah, and you know, my husband, what he sees mostly is not the the mass shootings. Right. And I think the media tends to show more of that. But we both, me and you both know that a lot of gun violence is not just the mass shootings, which of course are so sad and hard to hear, but it shows up in many different ways.

 

00;14;43;17 – 00;15;04;20

Dr. Mona

You know, gun related suicides, domestic violence involving firearms, police gun violence, hate crimes. You know, there’s, you know, just the access and availability of guns and the gun violence that can happen with it. Can you help listeners understand the broader picture of how gun violence can touch communities across the country, and why that conversation matters when we talk about solutions?

 

00;15;04;20 – 00;15;27;19

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Yeah, it’s so important because the crisis is so vast. I believe it was under the last administration. This was marked as a public health crisis, which I think is great to look at it from that perspective, because the way that you then intervene, the measures you take look different. It’s not just, you know, it’s not just one off things happening, but this is something that we are a collective we have to look at from every level that we can.

 

00;15;27;24 – 00;15;49;21

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

And so it’s so vast. So that means there’s not a one size all solution to this crisis. And you mentioned we often hear things about mass shootings or school shootings, which by the way, are horrific. Now, none of these are good things. When you start to look at the number again, I’m just going to just emphasize that it doesn’t matter if there’s one mass shooting or 100.

 

00;15;49;21 – 00;16;08;16

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

They’re all horrible. Yeah. And especially when you think about people at the other end of that, there is a survivor, whether it’s someone’s life was stolen are they’re they’re surviving the trauma of it or injured. And so we look we take all of it seriously. But when we think about largely, there are all kinds of daily gun violence that happens.

 

00;16;08;16 – 00;16;30;08

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Someone in the place, they’re just walking to go to the store and something happens, or they’re in a movie theater. Something happens. We think about folks, that idea, you know, maybe there’s something there in a really hard moment in their lives, and they’re, they make this, a choice that cannot be. You know, oftentimes when we think about firearms, it makes it fatal and deadly.

 

00;16;30;15 – 00;16;51;07

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

And so there’s all kinds of ways I like to also mention there’s unintentional shootings that happen all the time. We think about kids, someone that thinks they’re hiding away their firearm and a child finds it and they’re curious. I mean, I can’t even hide Christmas presents from my kids. Yeah, you know, it’s not being securely stored and tragedy ensues.

 

00;16;51;07 – 00;17;12;03

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

So a lot of that is happening in a strong movement means it’s diverse. The movement that means we think about all the different ways that gun violence is impacting all the different communities, which means there’s different solutions that have to happen to those. And we need voices from people that are most impacted by this crisis to help weigh on the solutions, which is really important.

 

00;17;12;03 – 00;17;32;22

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

So when we think about like addressing gun suicide, we need secure storage laws. We need red flag laws. We mean the lots of mental health support and resources coming in. When we address violent gun crime in cities. We need to give people access to housing, education, jobs, food, all those things that we’re addressing, root cause. And we think about like domestic gun violence.

 

00;17;32;22 – 00;17;51;10

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

We need laws that prevent abusers from getting access to guns because we know once they have access, that person, usually women and in these cases are five times more likely to to die by gun violence. So there’s all kinds of ways to look at this. And we need everyone’s voice. And we need to really examine this from all levels.

 

00;17;51;10 – 00;18;10;10

Dr. Mona

You know, one of the hardest things about being a pediatrician is we don’t have enough time and visits, right? To go over all of the anticipatory guidance. We want to go through with families also just handle what we need to. And one of the things in residency that we had to talk a lot about was gun violence education, about, you know, when you if you do have a firearm in your home.

 

00;18;10;10 – 00;18;27;28

Dr. Mona

And we’re I practiced in residency. There was a lot of gun owners. Right. And so we’d have to talk to them about, hey, if you have a firearm, please make sure you lock the ammunition and the gun separate locations in a locked cabinet. All of that was happening, and people don’t realize that pediatricians are constantly doing that work.

 

00;18;27;28 – 00;18;48;20

Dr. Mona

You know, like you said, we all play our role in this ecosystem and it gets draining sometimes, you know, because then you see the violence come in, you see that accident or hear it on the news, which you mentioned, like a child who accidentally shoots their sibling or shoots their parent with truly an accident, like a small child, or shoots themselves because they’re playing with what they think is a toy.

 

00;18;48;22 – 00;19;17;03

Dr. Mona

And it’s it’s hard to see. And, you know, I think it’s such an important, you know, addition to what you were mentioning about how we all play that role. And I think part of the other frustration that I hear is that we know, I know that this is a public health issue, and it is right when something is killing a lot of children, which you just mentioned, it’s the leading cause of death for children under the age of 18, not cancer, not motor vehicle accidents.

 

00;19;17;03 – 00;19;46;23

Dr. Mona

It’s gun violence. And if it was a virus out there that was doing the same thing, we would come up with a vaccine. We did that during the pandemic. If it was something else, everyone would care. But it’s it seems to feel like it’s become a polarized political issue, which then can shut down conversation from even happening. So through your work, what have you learned about having conversations with people who hold opposing political views, or are we actually in the same boat and just coming at it from a different direction?

 

00;19;46;23 – 00;19;55;16

Dr. Mona

And how how can we be less polarized around this topic and come up with a joint collective agreement that this is something that needs to be remedied?

 

00;19;55;16 – 00;20;21;00

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Yeah, that’s a really good question. I think part of it is like it’s a little bit of a knee jerk reaction. I think people are so used to being I’m here, are there like this when you think about a public health crisis and you think about this crisis in particular that impacts so many communities, but our children at the center of this, then you’re going to have to pull away from this idea like you’re either here or there and look at it with a lot more, nuance.

 

00;20;21;03 – 00;20;42;20

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

It also means kind of getting out of this defensive posture that often people in, like taking out of politics. It’s really not about politics. It’s been made to be about politics, but it really is about keeping our communities and our families safe. And that does not fly in the face of being a gun owner. We have so many gun owners within our network.

 

00;20;42;23 – 00;21;05;04

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

I have family members that are gun owners. I’ve actually myself. I’ve gone to ranges and just learned understand the inside out of the different, you know, kind of the the different firearms. It’s really important to know. And I think when we’re in a country where we have lots of gun ownership and by the way, it’s climbing, then we got to be able to to make sure that we’re addressing that as it is.

 

00;21;05;04 – 00;21;25;15

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

So you don’t go in finger wagging and telling somebody that they’re wrong. What we need to do is address this from a place of it’s a responsibility. It is a responsibility. And with when you have a privilege like that, which I think it is a privilege to be able to have this like and that when you think about this country versus other places, I travel a lot.

 

00;21;25;15 – 00;21;47;29

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

I love traveling, by the way. Same. They don’t have the opportunity to be necessarily gun owners. It’s very different. That means your responsibility comes with that. You don’t just have something when they’re responsibility. So that’s where we’re kind of where we’re we’re coming from. And when I’ve had conversations, I want to say that oftentimes it’s the way that’s gets framed is from this really high level.

 

00;21;47;29 – 00;22;06;09

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

You’re either on this side or that side. It’s like paper or plastic, black or white, up or down. That’s not how we live our lives, right? It’s not how we live our lives. And the beauty of this work is that I get to travel all over the country. The red is the red states, the blue is the blue, the purple and all in between.

 

00;22;06;11 – 00;22;37;21

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

And have real conversations with real people that are either parents, gun owners, faith leaders, veterans, business owners, grandparents, educators, medical providers. It’s so it’s such a privilege to be able to have these conversations. And the majority of people are in the same place. They don’t want to go back and forth on, like fighting some like and UN. It’s just when we start from a place of like my right versus you’re right, we’re we’ve already lost.

 

00;22;37;28 – 00;23;03;07

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Yeah, we’re talking about of course this is not anything that flies in the face again of a Second Amendment. What this is saying is yes. And we have what is our responsibility now to make sure that our folks are safe. So having these conversations, you wouldn’t believe it. I’ve been in some of the places where someone it feels like on paper because we have nothing in common and we end up having such a good and in some of my best conversations, a good conversation.

 

00;23;03;13 – 00;23;21;12

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

And that person at the end is actually telling me something along the lines of, you know, I think I’m a gun owner, but I also think that if someone wants to be a gun owner, there’s some basic things that you do. Maybe they should be approved to see if there there’s anything in the record. So criminals, people that are prohibited shouldn’t.

 

00;23;21;17 – 00;23;43;23

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

And I said yes background checks. So we’re not so far apart. But I think and sometimes these political environments, especially nowadays it’s gotten more and more, tense. What breaks that is literally just sitting down and having a real conversation with somebody, not in a way that I’m trying to finger wag or because that’s not my job. And frankly, that’s not what I feel.

 

00;23;43;23 – 00;24;03;03

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

I feel as a mother of four kids, as a person that loves this country, as a person that loves other humans. Yeah, I think that we should be able to come to some solution together and that it’s going to take all of us from coming from different backgrounds and understandings to get to a solution that’s going to be suitable.

 

00;24;03;09 – 00;24;13;23

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

So the majority of people I talk to are in the same place we are. And once you start breaking down those walls there, you can find that, you know, they’re willing to roll up their sleeves and figure out how we do this together.

 

00;24;13;23 – 00;24;32;19

Dr. Mona

I feel like that’s where so much of the discussion is lost in so many things, public health related, and I love that we keep bringing it back to public health. Because you’re looking at stats, right? You’re looking at data. This is a crisis. We can’t deny that it’s a crisis. Right. And I don’t think anyone truly can say that they’re okay with what’s happening in the United States, right?

 

00;24;32;21 – 00;24;52;07

Dr. Mona

When it comes to gun violence. Right? Because we are of the developed countries, we are the leading cause, or it is the leading cause. And it’s it’s very hard to see that. And I love I love how you approach it. I think that’s so healthy. And it is nice to hear that when you go to talk to the families, the goal is very much the same, regardless of party lines, because it can just feel like that.

 

00;24;52;13 – 00;25;12;27

Dr. Mona

It’s not, you know, the case now, you mentioned about, you know, the background checks and all the things that maybe we could do, which could be its own other episode, like the legislation and, and all of that. But in from a legislative piece, do we feel as if one of the hardest barriers is that there’s no national legislation surrounding how people can obtain guns?

 

00;25;12;27 – 00;25;30;11

Dr. Mona

Because, for example, in California, it’s one way. In Florida there’s open carry. And is that making it just harder to have a clear thing or what is kind of our goal here? National legislation, better legislation, or what would you define as sort of winning this, this piece in terms of gun reform?

 

00;25;30;19 – 00;25;59;23

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Yeah. I would just say, first of all, because again, I’m going to go back to this is such a the crisis is so big and so multifaceted that approaching it from every layer, it’s from a legislative and political, to an education piece. It’s there’s just so much that is, as part of the solution here. And I think when you think about, what it take the steps that it takes, and then I’m going to talk about some wins because it’s always good to hear about what we’ve been doing.

 

00;25;59;23 – 00;26;21;06

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

I will just tell you just a little bit of a, a spoiler alert that over this past it’s been 13 years of moms made action going on 14 years. I mean, in that time, we have made tremendous progress, even in terms of having this conversation, this was a third rail of politics in the beginning when Shannon Watts, got this poppin.

 

00;26;21;07 – 00;26;46;00

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Like I like to say. Yeah, not easy for easy place to be. You know, we even had when we think about on the political realm, when you talked about federal, legislation and federal level, there was nothing that was happening on the federal level after Sandy hook when this came about. They couldn’t even pass federal legislation after, like the massacre of kindergartners and first graders and teachers at a school.

 

00;26;46;03 – 00;27;08;12

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

We had a quarter of and again, I’m going to talk about this. I’m not trying to talk about it in a political way, but I just want to give you facts. We had even on what we would think like people that typically would vote, our move and directions when it comes to gun violence, for instance, gun safety, Democrats, you had a quarter of them, kind of getting an a rating from an NRA.

 

00;27;08;14 – 00;27;34;08

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Like this thing in a place you couldn’t even touch this. It was literally the third rail. Now it is opened up in such a way. So this is part of the win that this is a conversation that everyday people are having because it’s impacting so many. That’s the sad part about it is that it has moved to a leading causes that for kids, it has moved to the fact that over 56% of adults in this country, either themselves or someone they love, identify as a survivor of gun violence.

 

00;27;34;10 – 00;28;07;13

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

That is hard. So these are real kitchen table conversations. Now. Keeping your kids safe, taking them to school, school lockdown drills, going to, you know, going shopping in a supermarket, simple things like this. People have to look at and so there’s been a lot of movement here. And I think part of when you think about federal versus state, this is not an unrealistic when we think about how we’re set up as a nation, that there is state by state, there can be different ways that people are approaching an issue, a problem, different ways are legislating.

 

00;28;07;17 – 00;28;31;19

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

And you can get a bit of patchwork. But what we do know is that when we start to get some momentum and you have states that are doing some great stuff and working and partnering together, then you can actually push for things that are looking at the federal level. We had the first in our and in almost nearly 30 years, the bipartisan Safer Communities Act that happened under the last administration, I believe that was now it feels like so long ago.

 

00;28;31;19 – 00;28;55;07

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

I think that we too that that happened that was bipartisan, by the way. Yeah, publicans voted on that and that was very important. So that opened up so much federally. I mean, there’s still a lot to be done. But I will say, let me just give you a couple winds. And there’s so many more state by state, locality by locality, some that are recent for me that I think about top of mind is Washington.

 

00;28;55;09 – 00;29;15;03

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

They were addressing 3D printed ghost guns and that was just last month. This is a newer thing that’s coming up when we think about technology. We have the good of it. You can literally print out components and put together a firearm on serialized, untraceable. Well, no background check has happened. You just need Wi-Fi and you need to be able to download some files.

 

00;29;15;03 – 00;29;39;15

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

So that is something that’s that’s moving. Washington’s addressing. So many other states are kind of stepping up. New York, other places. California. Last year signed the first and the nation legislation to be able to stop the spread of do it yourself machine guns, which is really important in this legislation. It prohibits gun dealers from selling firearms that can be easily converted into fully automatic weapons through simple installation of a switch.

 

00;29;39;15 – 00;29;56;22

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Now, that sounds wild, but we literally had machine guns that have been illegal, like on streets. Find them on crime scenes and it’s because they can easily be converted. And then one thing I’d like to say, another layer is building a bench of people that are willing to stand up and do the right thing on behalf of everybody.

 

00;29;56;28 – 00;30;17;25

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

That means whether you’re a parent or grandparent, a gun owner or not, like making sure that we have safe communities and we are able to, elect many, guns and champions. But one in particular I’m proud of is in Virginia bellwether for so many things, electing Abigail Spanberger, who is one of our former volunteer for 13 other moms, me an action volunteers in the Assembly.

 

00;30;17;25 – 00;30;36;29

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

That’s incredible. So those are just examples of how what this looks. People are running and winning on this issue because it is so important to the average person nowadays. It doesn’t work. I don’t care what your zip code is, I don’t care how you voted in the last election. Like I don’t care about any of that because this hits you.

 

00;30;36;29 – 00;30;54;29

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Regardless of that, your impact that regardless of that. And people are starting to see that. And we need to take a human approach to this and take a responsible approach to this, common sense approach to this that is going to protect our children and our communities. And that’s what’s happening.

 

00;30;55;01 – 00;31;15;04

Dr. Mona

Now, let’s take a quick break to hear from our sponsors who support helps us keep bringing you this show. Oh, I love hearing the wins, and I think it’s motivating to hear that, right. Because again, you can just get so bogged down with like nothing’s changing because you don’t. It doesn’t always make the news right. You just hear another school shooting or you hear about shootings at a bar.

 

00;31;15;06 – 00;31;34;04

Dr. Mona

The most recent one that I can remember, I’m sure there has been more, the one in Austin, before this. But the recording that we had and you’re just like, what is going on? But to hear that behind the scenes this is happening, the people are getting elected that have that balanced approach. And then the other thing that you mentioned was the bipartisan nature of some of the bills that have been passed.

 

00;31;34;04 – 00;32;02;18

Dr. Mona

And, you know, I do a lot of education about vaccines on my on my Instagram and on my socials. And I’m not a fan of the current HHS secretary, which is Robert Kennedy Jr. But I told my audience that if he does something that I like, I will always support it. You know, like so there’s one thing that happened which I want to call out because even though I’m against so much of the policy that they do that he wanted to incorporate more farm to table meals in schools.

 

00;32;02;20 – 00;32;28;27

Dr. Mona

And I was like, that makes sense. Like in, for example, University of Miami and in that area, utilizing local farms to basically have more fresh produce. And I think that’s an incredible idea to like get farmers involved but also create more fresh, less processed foods. And so, you know, thinking about this sort of being okay and saying that my view is one way, but I can see when a party that I’m, I don’t agree with is making good change is very healthy.

 

00;32;28;27 – 00;32;52;25

Dr. Mona

Right. Like if, for example, if I’m a blue voter and I’m seeing the red political party make change, we can say, you know what? That actually was a good idea. And so I think it’s so important to hear that so that we don’t create more divide that you don’t understand, and you never vote this way. And it’s I agree with you that I think it can just mean more change when we don’t come at it with things out, ready to attack, that you don’t get it.

 

00;32;52;25 – 00;32;54;09

Dr. Mona

You’re not on the same page as me.

 

00;32;54;12 – 00;32;57;06

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Yeah. Doctor. Mona, we don’t live our lives in vacuums.

 

00;32;57;09 – 00;32;57;27

Dr. Mona

Yes. I mean, I.

 

00;32;57;27 – 00;33;05;17

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Think when we think about our political system, it’s not that long ago that we can look back and see bipartisanship.

 

00;33;05;19 – 00;33;06;07

Dr. Mona

But I.

 

00;33;06;13 – 00;33;37;27

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

I firmly, truly believe that we need representative government. We need to have a little of everything. Or else you walking around with blinders on, you got blind spots. We need to have a little here, a little here and sprinkled. We got to understand that when we talk about making this nation great, our nation is great and will continue to thrive and be great because we have the diversity of experience, opinions, understandings, backgrounds, those things have always historically made us leaders.

 

00;33;38;04 – 00;33;49;17

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

And so when you think about solving problems, we need everyone coming to the table. And most humans do not approach our life as like, I’m not blue, you’re not red, right?

 

00;33;49;19 – 00;33;52;27

Dr. Mona

And you don’t know unless you start really talking, right? Like you got it. Yeah, exactly.

 

00;33;52;28 – 00;34;17;07

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Where hands are, where farmers are, where faith leaders are, where doctors are, where teachers. And we have we want to interact and community and we want to be feel safe. We want to feel we want to be able to thrive. That is like where if you start from that, you’d be surprised what we can do together. And I really resist, and I want more people to resist this idea that we are we like coming from two different planets.

 

00;34;17;07 – 00;34;38;13

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

It’s not true. And I think it’s also the beauty of me being able to travel around and meet with folks is like, that literally is not how it works. That is a small there’s a lot of, you know, kind of a small but loud, you know, I guess systems and structures that would make you believe that is also when you think about the extreme of any part of this.

 

00;34;38;13 – 00;35;01;03

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Like, we don’t want to be extreme in any way. We want to meet where most people are, and we want to figure out the solutions together as we have done in the past, and we can continue to do together. So I think that’s the promise of now. So I’m so glad that you brought that up, because it’s really important that we continue to kind of not just continue, but we go out of our way to make that so so we don’t slide into a place where it’s like, you’re over there, I’m over here.

 

00;35;01;03 – 00;35;04;09

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

We can’t talk to each other. We have nothing in common cause that’s just not true.

 

00;35;04;12 – 00;35;27;14

Dr. Mona

And I again, I love that the winds and at the same time, we both know there’s still so much work ahead. So as you look forward in the role that you’re in as a mom and all the advocacy, what priorities feel most urgent right now, whether that’s at advancing state legislation, holding the gun industry accountable, the role of upcoming elections and midterms that may play a role in all this.

 

00;35;27;16 – 00;35;38;28

Dr. Mona

What do you think it is? And I imagine that there’s probably multifactorial or what else am I missing here as to like what what people need to think about as they start to think about where where they want to, gear their advocacy towards.

 

00;35;38;28 – 00;36;02;03

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Yeah. Well, you sum it up for me. Thank you so much. I’ve always said this, and I mean it. Elections have consequences. So November is a big deal. Like, I know there are people like. And look, I like I said, I’m a mom of four. My oldest kids are voters now. They’ve had like two cycles under their belts and, they’re they don’t love it like at this, you know, different generation.

 

00;36;02;09 – 00;36;29;14

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

I’m a Gen Xer and it’s like we just we’re about duty. What we do, what we’re supposed to do. My kids are like, wait, well, this doesn’t feel right, or this is. And this doesn’t speak to me. But I said, okay, that’s fine. What I need people to understand is like, there’s if you’re not stepping up and and using your voice at the ballot box or supporting programs and candidates and people that are going to have your best interests at heart.

 

00;36;29;16 – 00;36;48;10

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

And when I say that, I’m thinking your best interest is not just is yours and your family’s and your community. When you do that, then we can do so much. So we need to win in November. We need people to step up and not be afraid to stand ten toes down on behalf of their communities and the safety of their communities.

 

00;36;48;14 – 00;37;09;06

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

And that means hearing from all kinds of people about their concerns and making the best policy decisions possible to make sure that our children are safe and sound. Legislation is always going to be a thing that we’re going to look at. We’re passing innovative legislation to stop the flow of do it yourself machine guns. Like I said, yeah, we want to do that by holding manufacturers accountable.

 

00;37;09;06 – 00;37;29;29

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

It’s not just about elected officials. We have other people that play a role in this crisis. We want to make sure that we’re banning assault weapons and requiring background checks. I mean, that’s low bar like military. We work with so many military veterans, and I have so many veterans and active duty in my family that this is this is a big deal right here, stopping the flow of illegal guns.

 

00;37;29;29 – 00;37;47;03

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

So we want to combat guns trafficking. That’s a huge deal. You might have a state with strong gun lines, but you don’t have impenetrable borders. And we have traffickers that are straw purchasing and buying these laws like these should put a flag out for people. Why do you need to buy, like an a month, 30 or 40 guns?

 

00;37;47;03 – 00;37;48;11

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

What are you doing? Like that’s.

 

00;37;48;13 – 00;37;49;04

Dr. Mona

Exactly.

 

00;37;49;10 – 00;38;10;18

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Right. Comes to trafficking. These are basic things that we can put in the place to stop. Again, it’s not about owning a gun. It’s about. It’s about, ways that this is illegally happening without any kind of oversight. And also where people are, like profiting and crime rings are like getting guns in the hands of prohibited people. That’s a problem.

 

00;38;10;25 – 00;38;41;08

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Banning Glocks, which is we shouldn’t have the ability to turn a pistol or a handgun into a machine gun. And then we really want to think about technology and how we get ahead and have laws in place to prevent 3D printing of firearms and other things. Those are just a few things I’m thinking about and I didn’t even say on the the, the legal side are the litigate inside to make sure that we’re going in and holding accountable folks that are going to be bad actors, and not work with us to do the right thing and keep communities safe.

 

00;38;41;08 – 00;38;46;14

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

So those are just a few things that we’ll be working on, and we’d love to have all of you join us in that.

 

00;38;46;17 – 00;39;11;00

Dr. Mona

And in all of that. Nobody said to take away Second Amendment. And I want to reiterate that. Right. Because you said it beautifully at the beginning that we believe in the amendments. I do too. You know, I think they existed. But one thing I one of the videos that has really struck a chord with me, and I’m sure you’ve seen it, is about when the Second Amendment was written and how technology has changed and how we need to rethink a little bit about the laws, because it’s not always the same.

 

00;39;11;00 – 00;39;20;21

Dr. Mona

So, right. In my opinion, I don’t believe any civilian needs to own an AR 15 or a machine gun like in my opinion, this is my opinion. I don’t know if we agree or is that not true?

 

00;39;20;21 – 00;39;24;06

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

I mean, I this is I say I agree as well because.

 

00;39;24;06 – 00;39;24;11

Dr. Mona

Yeah.

 

00;39;24;18 – 00;39;35;07

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

We have just on a civilian street, military grade weapons just don’t belong. And I and and we have lots of friends and things we work with and they would agree the same.

 

00;39;35;12 – 00;39;58;17

Dr. Mona

So there was a video that was out and I don’t know who the creator of the video is. Maybe you’ll know and I’ll, I’ll make sure to look at it. But there was a video of it like an advert, like a commercial where a man enters a workplace and he has an old like 1800 style rifle, and he’s he wants to start shooting his office place, but he has to reload after every shot, because that’s how old machine guns used to be, right?

 

00;39;58;17 – 00;40;26;17

Dr. Mona

It wasn’t like you could run a whole round of ammunition in one shot. So he would try to shoot after get reload. And so then the end scene says, gun technology has changed. So should our laws. Right that now to be able to get ammunition for multiple rounds, to be able to go into a concert, a nightclub, a school and be able to just take one gun and fire, it is much different than what the Second Amendment was created for, right?

 

00;40;26;17 – 00;40;44;07

Dr. Mona

That we didn’t have that technology back then. And like to your point, none of us are saying get rid of the gun. We’re just saying common sense gun laws so that we don’t have these mass casualties that there are. You brought up so many things that I don’t think many people have considered the, you know, across the state lines.

 

00;40;44;07 – 00;41;09;26

Dr. Mona

And, you know, the obviously, we know background checks, and, you know, holding, corporations like, liable. But I think this is like all really important information. And it just kind of goes to show how we need to rethink all of that so that we can keep our community safe. And I, I really I really respect and appreciate you bringing it back to community because we tend to think so egocentric when it comes to public health issues.

 

00;41;09;26 – 00;41;36;08

Dr. Mona

Right. Like I equate it to vaccines or my body, my choice, my gun, my choice. But with that comes great responsibility. Like you mentioned, right? With great power comes great responsibility. So if this beautiful country of ours, which I think is very beautiful and is sometimes been led astray, if we want these responsibilities and want these privileges, there has to be guardrails, just like we would give guardrails for our children with limits like free rein, because.

 

00;41;36;08 – 00;42;05;07

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

We’re in a collective society. And I like when I talk to people, one of the things that, you know, I see with my own eyes because I get to travel all different parts of this country, it’s like, no, it’s not a one size fits all anywhere. Like and that’s. Yeah, very fair. When that comes up, whether you’re in a more rural area, whether you’re an urban area, exurbs, suburban like, it’s there’s so much but we’ve got to think like collectively about what that looks like because even if you’re in a rural area and it’s like this makes sense here, this makes sense.

 

00;42;05;09 – 00;42;31;03

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Like we’re we’re still have closed borders. Those things can move in and out. So we got to think about what it looks like to collectively ensure that if you’re a gun owner, it’s with common sense laws that are going to allow you to still have the the right to have your firearm, but also the responsibility to be amongst other people and understand we have to collectively do this right.

 

00;42;31;03 – 00;43;06;27

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

It’s not just it’s not your your gun, your laws, your way. You’re living in community with other folks. So this is a thing that I, I agree, we got to look at it from a broader perspective. We got to come to it together because we all have, a say in what these solutions look like. But there are lots of things that we already have that are data driven, proof of what it looks like to have common sense, responsible gun laws that are going to keep everyone safe, keep gun owners with to be able to responsibly own their guns, keep parents, able to keep their their kids safe, keep doctors and physicians in

 

00;43;06;27 – 00;43;22;07

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

a place where they can treat and care for their patients in ways that, you know, they’re not they’re not it’s not getting in the way by not having strong gun laws that, you know, really make sure they’re protecting us. So we all have a place in this fight. And I’m just really glad that we’re having this conversation today.

 

00;43;22;08 – 00;43;42;25

Dr. Mona

Yeah. And, you know, you obviously mentioned, that elections have consequences. And I know that’s one way that we can all do our part in this country. If you feel strongly about this, and I hope you do vote, the people in that have that same mindset, right, that want to have those common sense gun laws. But what are other small or large ways that people can get involved when it comes to advocacy?

 

00;43;42;29 – 00;44;08;24

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Sure. Well, one thing that you can do right now is, the communities that you already are in, whether it’s family, it’s a parent, groups, whatever you’re working in, having these conversations, don’t be afraid to have them. I think sometimes we’re often afraid of, like, what, folks, response will be like, you’re not going in trying to, like, bull in a China shop is just simple, like, you know, I’m concerned about, violence in schools or this I saw this on the news, and this is.

 

00;44;08;24 – 00;44;30;04

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

What are you thinking about? This are simple things. Play date. If you have a firearm, is it is your firearm? I always say instead of saying, do you have a gun? It’s like, is your firearm securely stored? I just want to make sure my kids going to come over, that they don’t have access. And the worse that happens is like someone’s like, oh, yeah, well, you know, I yes, I have an is secure or I don’t have a firearm.

 

00;44;30;08 – 00;44;37;24

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

So it’s like putting in that kind of takes the onus and of someone feeling like you’re putting in the position of like you’re like outing them or something.

 

00;44;37;24 – 00;44;42;17

Dr. Mona

Sometimes, you know, you have a gun, you know, you have a gun saying.

 

00;44;42;20 – 00;45;06;08

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

No, I’m a responsible yeah. If horse is secure, I’m a responsible gun owner. So simple things like that. If you want to get involved with us, we’re at the very local level all the way up to kind of state these. You can text, ready to six, four, four, three, three. And we will plug you in. The folks that are in your area of all stripes and ways, that will pull you into like, what’s happening locally.

 

00;45;06;08 – 00;45;21;23

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

And maybe you can you can jump into that, and I think pay attention as the questions when you hear people that are running, whether it’s school board all the way up to president, what does it mean for gun violence prevention? What does it mean for keeping my children safe? Those are just some basic things that you can do.

 

00;45;21;23 – 00;45;36;26

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

And I would be remiss if I didn’t say we can always use support, whether it’s a donation, whether it’s your time. So reach out to us. We’d be happy to have you. It’s going to take all of us to get to the other side of this crisis. And we’re looking forward to bring you in.

 

00;45;36;28 – 00;45;43;14

Dr. Mona

I think I’m already on the text chain. Or I get updates about what’s happening and local events and all that, and.

 

00;45;43;14 – 00;46;00;21

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

That’s where our weekend coming up. So you can also look and see what’s happening around, your, your community. There might be events, whether it’s beautifying a park or like having there’s all kinds of things going on. So you should look up and see, you can jump in and help us out with your orange wearing this week.

 

00;46;00;24 – 00;46;23;29

Dr. Mona

Yes. And we have our orange on. And you know, obviously all these awareness days, these advocacy days are so important to me, but it always means, stepping point to make sure that we continue the conversations beyond this year, which is why I’m so glad that this conversation can live on my show forever. You know, it’s going to be evergreen, that people can always get this and learn more about stats that you mentioned, all of the ways to stay involved.

 

00;46;24;02 – 00;46;29;25

Dr. Mona

And just the real nature of what’s happening in America right now. So, Angela, thank you so much for joining me today.

 

00;46;29;27 – 00;46;41;03

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Of course. What a good conversation and thank you for your work. Oh my gosh, I have so much love and respect for, health care providers and doctors. And, you know, thank you so much for what you do. It’s really important.

 

00;46;41;07 – 00;46;50;02

Dr. Mona

Thank you. One of the last questions I always have for my guest is what is making you happy right now. It can be anything like your life and your work. What is making you feel joyful right now?

 

00;46;50;04 – 00;47;09;08

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

I love you know. I love being outside. So of course warm sunny days are. Yes, I take my kids out, we take walks, walk the dogs, get ice cream. Just like living like that, just in those moments is so important. It’s so easy to be pulled into all these different directions. But that that is what’s bringing me joy right now.

 

00;47;09;08 – 00;47;24;15

Dr. Mona

And what a reminder as we talk about advocacy, which can feel so heavy sometimes, right. Like we’re talking about this conversation that for many parents can feel like dreadful. You know, like it’s so hearing the news stories, but taking it back to like, the basics of joy. I mean, we all need to do that to be able to keep doing this fight.

 

00;47;24;15 – 00;47;29;19

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

We do. And hug your kiddos and, hug the connection is key.

 

00;47;29;21 – 00;47;47;15

Dr. Mona

Oh, Angela, this is wonderful. I know this is not going to be the last time that we connect, whether it’s on the podcast or in person. I hope to give you a big or to orange hug. One day, you know, at an event or, you know, just as an adult, whether it’s an ad, an advocacy event, or, you know, decorating a park, like you said, or, whatever it is that.

 

00;47;47;15 – 00;47;51;27

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

We have time, I guess I’m traveling all the time. I’ll let you know when I’m in your area.

 

00;47;51;27 – 00;48;14;02

Dr. Mona

Yes, you will. If you made it this far. Thank you so much for listening to this one. This is a advocacy episode. This is a way for us to feel more powerful when we feel helpless. And I know it can feel heavy. But I also hope you felt some hope in this conversation, because progress is happening and it takes all of us.

 

00;48;14;05 – 00;48;34;06

Dr. Mona

And I don’t expect you to be platforming or advocating for everything. There are so many injustices and things in the world that I want to advocate for, and gun violence is one of those things, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t care about other things. And I want you to think about what it is that makes you light up, what it is that you want to change in this world.

 

00;48;34;09 – 00;48;55;16

Dr. Mona

Maybe it’s gun violence. Maybe it’s something else. But whatever you do, make sure you know that you have power. Here’s the thing. We have all seen the cycle. A mass shooting happens. We are devastated. We post online, we grieve, and then the news cycle moves on and nothing changes. That is exactly what this movement is trying to break.

 

00;48;55;16 – 00;49;16;19

Dr. Mona

Because anger without action is just us waiting for more heartbreak. And as a reminder, gun violence exists without mass shootings that make the news. My husband, as an ER doctor sees it every day. So let’s make sure this episode is the thing that moves you from feeling to actually doing something. And how we can change the world is.

 

00;49;16;19 – 00;49;40;27

Dr. Mona

Share this conversation posted on social media. Make sure you tag PedsDocTalk the PedsDocTalk podcast, Everytown Moms Demand Action. For Rel Zabala, that is her account so that we can continue this conversation. And remember, join me on my social media, PedsDocTalk, the PedsDocTalk podcast, where I post about these episodes because I want to hear what resonated, what you’re doing, what you think you can change.

 

00;49;41;04 – 00;50;04;02

Dr. Mona

Because that’s how we actually impact this world and want to take one more step. Text, join or text ready to 64433 to connect with Moms Demand Action, the grassroots network of Everytown for Gun Safety in your area. You can also find them at Moms Demand Action Dawg and Everytown. Talk. I’ll chat with you all next time. Stay well.

 

00;50;04;02 – 00;50;07;29

Dr. Mona

Stay empowered, because that’s how we change the future for our kids.