By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Grassroots gun rights activists are the backbone of the fight to defend the Second Amendment, and just because there is a Republican in the White House and Republicans control Congress, this is not the time to fold up tents and go home.
That was the word from Jared Yanis, host at Guns & Gadgets News, and the man who used his time at the microphone during the Gun Rights Policy Conference to remind individual gun owners how important they are to Second Amendment defense.
Yanis described himself as “a freedom loving constitutionalist, who cherishes this country and I don’t want to lose it.”
“But I need your help,” he said. “SAF needs your help. This country, America, she needs your help.”
He told the audience that they often hear the term “grassroots” in the Second Amendment community.
“But what is the grassroots,” he asked rhetorically, explaining that the definition is, “The common or ordinary people especially contrasted with the leadership or the elite of a political party…The grassroots movement is the backbone of the fight for the Second Amendment, because it represents the collective voice of everyday Americans who refuse to let their constitutional rights be eroded by politicians, bureaucrats or activist judges.”
This is why, Yanis explained, that every individual needs to be active and involved. Individuals are the ones who write letters, make phone calls, show up at public hearings and make themselves heard.
“They’re the ones who keep the second amendment alive and strong,” he said. “They’re the men and women who remind elected officials that the Second Amendment is not a privilege handed down by government but a God-given right protected by the United States Constitution, and that any attempt to chip away at it will not go unchallenged.”
Yanis observed how the grassroots movement creates a ripple effect of accountability through all levels of government. They “make sure the fight isn’t just waged in Washington D.C.” but in legislatures and town halls across the country.
“That’s us,” he said. “Everybody in this room. We are the common, ordinary people. We are the freedom loving Americans who believe the constitution actually means what it says.”
After assuring his audience that “our actions are turning advocacy into victory,” Yanis said the fight must continue, and that nobody should “get comfortable” simply because there is a friendly administration and Congress.
“Now is the time to press the accelerator,” he advised.
According to Yanis, concessions on the NFA taxes came about in the One Big Beautiful Bill because grassroots activists burned up the telephone lines and flooded Capitol Hill with messages and letters.
“You did that,” he stressed. “When we the people unite, we can move mountains.”
But there is a new challenge on the horizon, a result of the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the fatal shooting at an ICE detention facility in Texas in late September. In both cases, the killers used bolt-action rifles, the quintessential “deer hunting rifle” which “people on the hill are talking about; those hunting rifles that they said they were never going to come for.”
“It’s going to take every single one of us to defeat what’s coming,” Yanis cautioned. “And make no mistake, it’s coming fast…We’ll have to dig in deep to fight harder than we ever have before.”
He reminded the Gun Rights Policy audience, “We the people are in charge.”
