By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Los Angeles-based Second Amendment activist and advocate Jessica Messineo used her 15 minutes at the microphone during the Gun Rights Policy Conference to show not only why she is a rising star in the conservative movement, but to inspire her audience to roll up their sleeves and get into the fight to protect this country’s embattled liberties.
She told the crowd that she has been working with the Second Amendment Foundation for a few weeks creating videos for social media, and explained how she was compelled to get involved by the assassination of Charlie Kirk in September 2025.
“The patriotic spirit that was in my heart grew to a blazing fire,” she recalled, “and I became more empowered to fight for this country more than ever. More importantly, I accepted and proclaimed Jesus, which has changed my life entirely.”
She started running and carrying an American flag. The experience made her realize the power of social media “and how it can be used as a tool for proclaiming truth.”
“I had to change my mindset,” Messineo continued. “I have always been a proud American patriot and a warrior for defending the country. This is how I was raised.
“However,” she acknowledged, “I was not raised with firearms. I didn’t shoot my first firearm until I was 19 years old. However, I have always stood for the law of the land that our forefathers penned for us. I then made my first Second Amendment video discussing the dreaded (Senate Bill 948), which is a permit to purchase scheme in California.”
The bill was one of ten signed by anti-gun Gov. Gavin Newsom in Sacramento while the conference was unfolding in Dallas.
Then Messineo hit her stride, and kept the audience listening to every word.
“There are three groups of people,” she observed, “the Patriots, which are a select few, but I do find them;
the diseased, those who are so riddled with hate for this country that there is just no reasoning with them, and then there are the apathetic and uninformed. I put these two together because they suffer in the same way. They are choosing to absolve themselves from their civic duty as Americans and to productively participate in society.
“That third group actually concerns me tremendously,” she continued, “because freedom cannot sustain itself on apathy. During recent elections in California, I was actually stunned by how many people I spoke to who told me they either didn’t vote, they didn’t know there was a vote and that they simply didn’t care.”
Messineo lamented that too many Americans “have become so comfortable and familiar with our freedom in this country that we have forgotten what it means to have it.”
“Not only have people become complacent in their civic duty to simply vote,” she stated, “but it has now become the norm to disregard our Constitution and treat it more as suggestions rather than the law of the land. Our Constitution cannot merely become a historical artifact that we admire when it is convenient.”
Her comments resonated with the grassroots activists in the audience.
“Many treat our American flag as a symbol of division and racism rather than one of sacrifice and unity,” Messineo said. “And citizenship cannot become something we passively inherit without accepting any responsibility for preserving the country that comes with it.
“To be a good American,” she added, “we were told to be tolerant, to keep our voices down, while the opposing groups have grown louder. When you are silent, you are easier to work around. The Second Amendment was written…because of how integral it is to keeping our country free.”
“We have this beautiful gift called America,” she said, “our home, and I am slowly seeing it being taken from us by people who hate what it stands for, who hate our customs and our values.”
With her time waning, Messineo cautioned the audience, “The fight will never be finished because there will always be another mountain to climb.
“We must stop negotiating our freedoms and inspire a change in mindset,” she advised. “The rest of our lives, we are going to have to fight these people, and if that is painstaking to hear, you may be living in a fantasy world. It can’t just be the big organizations fighting. We need everyone.”
Winding down her first GRPC appearance—and not likely to be her last—Messineo offered four points for the audience to take home.
- “Use your voice, Do not be afraid to respectfully speak about what you believe is right and just.
- “Get involved, join organizations and attend events like this.
- “Invest in the next generation. This is imperative to our future.
- “Do not let the fire you feel this weekend burn out. Because this is the easiest one to lose….remember why you decided that this country is worth fighting for.”
