Here at The Liberal Gun Club, we were very pleased to have recently hosted one of our popular Experience Panels, this one focused on the topic of substance abuse, addiction, recovery, sobriety, and how it all relates to firearms.
This is an important topic that the firearms community has seemed all too willing to simply ignore despite its proven connection to mental health, suicide, and violent crime.
We were happy we could begin to break the ice, open up the conversation, and provide resources to anyone who thinks they may have a problem with substance abuse.
Join members Paul Kronk, Mawenzi, and Will Hancock (a.k.a. Sapper Gentleman), as they discuss their own battles with substance abuse, their personal paths to sobriety, and the joys of being a sober firearms owner.
Also joining them is Eddie Davenport, LGC member, competitive shooting national champion, and social worker finishing up a master’s in social work focused on substance abuse and clinical counseling.
Below you will find a list of resources provided by the panelists and others within the club. If you think you or a loved one may have a problem with substance abuse, the help you need is out there.
Organizations/Support Groups:
LifeRing
LifeRing Secular Recovery is a secular, abstinence-based, anonymous organization dedicated to providing a safe meeting space where you can experience a non-judgmental recovery conversation with your peers. We do this through the lens of LifeRing’s ”3-S” philosophy of Sobriety, Secularity, and Self-Help.
Women For Sobriety
Women for Sobriety, Inc., is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women discover a happy New Life in recovery from Substance Use Disorders. Founded in 1975, the WFS New Life Program is based on thirteen Acceptance Statements which encourage emotional and spiritual growth. WFS has certified moderators and chat leaders leading mutual support groups online and in person, as well as phone volunteers available for one-on-one support. Any woman seeking an abstinent New Life is welcome to join WFS, and all expressions of female identity are welcome.
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international fellowship of men and women who have had a drinking problem. It is nonprofessional, self-supporting, multiracial, apolitical, and available almost everywhere. There are no age or education requirements. Membership is open to anyone who wants to do something about his or her drinking problem.
There is a “companion” organization for family and friends of AA members (anyone who is affected by someone else’s drinking problems: Al-Anon. https://al-anon.org/
Narcotics Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous is a global, community-based organization with a multi-lingual and multicultural membership. NA was founded in 1953, and our membership growth was minimal during our initial twenty years as an organization. Since the publication of our Basic Text in 1983, the number of members and meetings has increased dramatically. Today, NA members hold nearly 67,000 meetings weekly in 139 countries. We offer recovery from the effects of addiction through working a twelve-step program, including regular attendance at group meetings. The group atmosphere provides help from peers and offers an ongoing support network for addicts who wish to pursue and maintain a drug-free lifestyle. Our name, Narcotics Anonymous, is not meant to imply a focus on any particular drug; NA’s approach makes no distinction between drugs including alcohol. Membership is free, and we have no affiliation with any organizations outside of NA including governments, religions, law enforcement groups, or medical and psychiatric associations. Through all of our service efforts and our cooperation with others seeking to help addicts, we strive to reach a day when every addict in the world has an opportunity to experience our message of recovery in his or her own language and culture.
SMART Recovery
https://www.smartrecovery.org/
SMART Recovery is an abstinence-oriented, not-for-profit organization for individuals with addictive problems. Our self-empowering, free mutual support meetings focus on ideas and techniques to help you change your life from one that is self-destructive and unhappy to one that is constructive and satisfying. SMART Recovery does not use labels like “addict” or “alcoholic.” We teach scientifically validated methods designed to empower you to change and to develop a more positive lifestyle. After you have become familiar with SMART and are free of any addictive behavior, we encourage you to become a volunteer, so that we can keep expanding the number of meetings we offer.
Recovery Dharma
Recovery Dharma is a peer-led, grass-roots, democratically-structured organization. Our mission is to support individuals on their path of recovery from addiction using Buddhist practices and principles. We believe that the traditional Buddhist teachings, often referred to as the Dharma, offer a powerful approach to healing from addiction and living a life of true freedom. Our program is based on the idea that every one of us is our own guide in recovery from addiction, with the help and understanding of our wise friends and sangha (community). We believe that’s what the Dharma teaches us. So it’s with great joy and excitement that we come together to build this recovery community and support structure, informed by the spirit of democracy.
r/stopdrinking
https://www.reddit.com/r/stopdrinking/
This subreddit is a place to motivate each other to control or stop drinking. We welcome anyone who wishes to join in by asking for advice, sharing our experiences and stories, or just encouraging someone who is trying to quit or cut down. Please post only when sober; you’re welcome to read in the meanwhile.
Recover Together
https://recovertogether.withgoogle.com/#online-meetings
COVID-19 has changed the way we can gather and meet. Some support group meetings have changed to fully virtual, while other meetings are hybrids-a combination of digital and in-person participants who can all see and hear each other. Since requirements and practices vary by region, we’ve created a locator tool that you can use to find your nearest support group or recovery chapter (e.g. AA or NA).
Literature:
This Naked Mind
by Annie Grace
This Naked Mind puts you back in control by removing your desire to drink. This is done through a journey of facts, neuroscience, and logic. Experts imply that it can take months, even years, of hardship to stop drinking. Let’s think about it this way: a tough riddle can make you crazy, taking forever to solve. But if someone gives you the solution then solving the riddle is effortless.
The Easy Way To Control Alcohol
by Allen Carr
Allen Carr established himself as the world’s greatest authority on helping people stop smoking, and his internationally best-selling Easy Way to Stop Smoking has been published in over 40 languages and sold more than 10 million copies. In this classic guide Allen applies his revolutionary method to drinking. With startling insight into why we drink and clear, simple, step-by-step instructions, he shows you the way to escape from the ‘alcohol trap’ in the time it takes to read this book.
The Power of Now
by Eckhart Tolle
https://www.eckharttolle.com/power-of-now-excerpt/
It’s no wonder that The Power of Now has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and has been translated into over 30 foreign languages. Much more than simple principles and platitudes, the book takes readers on an inspiring spiritual journey to find their true and deepest self and reach the ultimate in personal growth and spirituality: the discovery of truth and light. In the first chapter, Tolle introduces readers to enlightenment and its natural enemy, the mind. He awakens readers to their role as a creator of pain and shows them how to have a pain-free identity by living fully in the present. The journey is thrilling, and along the way, the author shows how to connect to the indestructible essence of our Being, “the eternal, ever-present One Life beyond the myriad forms of life that are subject to birth and death.” Featuring a new preface by the author, this paperback shows that only after regaining awareness of Being, liberated from Mind and intensely in the Now, is there Enlightenment.
Empowering Your Sober Self
https://lifering.org/bookstore-shopping-cart/Empowering-Your-Sober-Self-p161742544
The one book to read for an introduction to LifeRing. Written for the person who wants to get free of alcohol/drugs, for their friends and relations, and for the professionals who treat them.
Paul K