Talking With Jared Yanis at NRA Annual Meeting 2026

Jared Yanis is a behemoth in the Second Amendment advocacy and media world. The popular YouTube host sat down for a chat during the 2026 National Rifle Association Annual Meeting.

While attending the 2026 National Rifle Association Annual Meeting, Yanis stopped by to discuss the fight, what he’s been looking into, and his channel. This interview was made possible by Beretta Holding, the sponsor of the Voices of the Second Amendment at the NRAAM.

Yanis, the artist formerly known as Guns and Gadgets, recently went through a rebrand. During our April 17 interview, we even talked about the inception of the name Guns and Gadgets. I jokingly asked, “Where’s the gadgets?” Yanis snickered and explained how the channel came about in the first place.

The channel came about when Yanis was laid up recovering at home after sustaining a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery. He explained that during the early days of YouTube, most of the content was either “a cat video or a holster review.” During a conversation with his oldest son, Yanis said that he was critiquing someone’s video.

"They're missing some key points about that holster. They're not talking about retention or anything like that," Yanis recalled saying to his son. “So he challenged me and held up an iPhone in our basement in Massachusetts, and said, ‘Then do better.’”

That’s how Guns and Gadgets was born.

Prior to being one of America’s most recognizable and trusted voices of the Second Amendment, Yanis was a police officer. He worked in both his native Massachusetts as well as in New Orleans. It was while working on the police force that Yanis said he cut his teeth in the firearms and firearms policy world.

“I was a trainer — I was in firearms, which kind of got me doing what I'm doing now,” Yanis said. “And teaching in the academies, you get to learn different things, the way that laws are written, what they really say, and they kind of just blossom into what I'm doing now.”

One of the new-to-2026 projects that Yanis tackled was the topic of interstate reciprocity. Previously reported at Bearing Arms, Yanis interviewed his good friend Reid Henrichs from Valor Ridge. They aimed to raise public awareness about Henrichs’ and his wife’s journey to obtain as many permits or licenses to carry across the nation.

Yanis explained that Reid and his wife Rachel live in Tennessee, but they’re originally from Illinois. Consequently, the Henrichs still have family back in The Prairie State. They looked into seeing what it would take for them to be able to carry firearms there.

“They were told by the Illinois State Police that they don't even have the right to apply for (a) concealed carry non-resident permit,” Yanis said. The State of Illinois only allows people who are from one of six states to even be allowed to apply for a permit there, and Tennessee isn’t one of them.

“That kind of got us thinking: Like, what does the average American have to do to be able to have their right in every state?” Yanis mused. “They undertook this during their off season, and they're working harder and spending more money than they ever have to get permits so that they can carry coast to coast. And they've spent 1000s and 1000s of dollars each.”

The Henrichs are now in the middle of litigation with Illinois over its prohibitive policy. The GOA-backed suit, Henrichs v. Kelly et al, was filed earlier this year.

“And to be clear, nobody involved thinks a permitting process is legit or lawful either,” Yanis asserted. “It's an unconstitutional burden. But we wanted to see what the average person would have to do.”

Since we were at the NRA Annual meeting, Yanis was broadly asked about all of the top national Second Amendment groups. He took that opportunity to discuss the NRA and its renaissance over the last couple years in working to “right the ship.” Yanis understood that some people might be turned off by what he had to say on the topic “because of what most recent history has been under the previous regime, but that's gone now.”

“I've talked with Doug Hamlin and John Commerford at length (the) last several months, actually, since last summer, trying to get an idea of where they're seeing the NRA go,” Yanis said. “And I think they are going in the right direction again.”

Yanis acknowledges that the Association’s transformation has come with a level of criticism. He noted that “they're taking their lumps when they're having interviews, and they're doing what needs to be done.”

Expanding more globally, Yanis described the reclamation of our rights as a “game” and compared the NRA to a “cleanup hitter.” He said, “The NRA has always been the biggest, most well funded there was. If you don't have the big dog in the fight, you have a bigger fight than you would.”

Another project that Yanis has been working on lately is educating his viewers on the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers. He’s released over 50 videos (about 55 at this time) on the Federalist Papers and 12 on the Anti-Federalist Papers. These deep dives give viewers a glimpse into the philosophies behind the nation’s founding.

“America as a whole (has) forgotten the way this country was designed,” Yanis said when asked about his message to the masses. “We the people hold all the power, and the reason we're having the issues we have now with the Second Amendment is because we forgot that.”

Yanis said that for a couple of generations the people had been "standoffish" and they “hate politics.” He observed that many folks just don’t get involved, which he says led us to where we are now.

“If we remember what our Founders intended, what they actually set up, and why things are the way they are, I think things change quickly,” Yanis declared. “Because, as Americans, (we) have the power. We just need to remember that.”

Jared Yanis will tell you he’s just another man doing what he thinks is right. He also happens to be one of the most respected and followed voices educating about and defending the Second Amendment.

Be sure to check out Yanis’ channel, now rebranded as Jared Yanis, the channel formerly known as Guns and Gadgets, and toss him a follow. (As this is rolling out, Yanis’ channel just swapped over from the YouTube tag “gunsgadgets” to “@jaredyanis.” So, the brand change is 100 percent official now.)

If you’d like to catch the entire interview with Jared Yanis from the NRAAM 2026, you can check that out HERE, or in the embed below.

Editor’s Note: President Trump and Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.

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