‘It’s Our Turn’: Firearms-Safety Activists Ride a ‘Tectonic’ Surge into US Statehouses.

A new generation of youthful elected officials is ascending to office across the United States by leveraging their personal experience with firearms tragedies to advocate for reforms they contend the public is demanding.

Their ascent marks a nearly decade-long transformation. Gun violence prevention has moved from a political taboo rarely spoken about on the stump to a core issue that politicians, predominantly from the Democratic party, are now campaigning on successfully.

A Collective Exhaustion Drives the Shift

This change is fueled in part by a national weariness with firearms deaths, encompassing large-scale attacks – such as tragedies at a Rhode Island university and a Sydney beach – as well as gun-related suicides and community violence, which continue to tear apart countless families and communities.

“This is a problem that has impacted my life,” said a Tennessee state representative. “There was something about a legislator and witnessing government inaction, while recalling the effects in my community, that pushed me to say this is an issue we must prioritize.”

The day he was sworn in coincided with the deadliest shooting in Tennessee history, when three children and three adults were murdered at a Nashville private school.

Expulsion and a National Spotlight

Shortly after, he and two other state Democrats staged a demonstration on the house floor to call for stronger gun policy. Pearson and his colleague were removed from office for their protest, an act that propelled them to national prominence. They later reclaimed their seats.

Months later, his sibling was lost to a firearm suicide. This was not his first encounter with violent loss; previously, his guide and a old schoolmate were also fatally shot in his hometown.

Now, he is campaigning for a federal office by placing gun violence at the core of his campaign platform. He emphasizes how it impacts the state’s young residents, for whom gunshot wounds are the primary killer.

From Activism to Candidacy

The rise of office-seekers centering gun violence is also a product of the expanding advocacy network across the nation, which has evolved into a recruitment channel for new candidates.

• Maxwell Frost, the country’s first Generation Z congressmember, began as a activist with a student-led gun-safety group.
• Lucy McBath, a Georgia representative, and Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia governor-elect, were both involved with Moms Demand Action before running for office.
• Cameron Kasky, a Parkland survivor who was instrumental in national marches, has recently announced his own run for Congress.

“I see myself as a small part of a larger cause. It’s the reason I got into politics,” noted Frost. “I was 15 when Sandy Hook happened and that’s what pushed me to get involved.”

A Seismic Shift in Politics

Nowadays, calling out gun-rights lobbyists like the NRA is common among Democratic candidates. But in the recent past, many centrist politicians held ‘A’ grades from the organization, and the subject of regulating guns was considered a career-ending issue.

“It was a slow process and full of ups and downs,” said a violence-prevention activist. “We saw our supporters seeking election and thought it was common sense that someone advocating for laws would want to become a lawmaker.”

Many point to the 2012 mass shooting and the lack of action in Washington to pass reforms as a turning point. This led formerly gun-friendly Democrats to risk their favorable scores to support restrictions on high-capacity magazines. Now, receiving a poor grade from the NRA is a badge of honor.

“After Parkland, zero Democratic members of Congress had an A rating and were boasting of it. That’s a dramatic change,” the activist continued. “It shattered a lot of myths and anxieties about being proactive on this issue.”

Personal Loss Fuels Political Action

The epidemic of gun violence has also mobilized first-time entrants to public service.

Shaundelle Brooks lost her son in a 2018 mass shooting in the city. Years later, another son was wounded leaving a music venue. After repeated trips of advocating at the capitol with no response, she chose to become a candidate herself.

“Coming up here for years and having them just ignoring me, showed me that I needed to do something greater than what I was doing,” she said.

“Knowing you’re directly affected, they feel that you’re more credible to talk about this. They know it’s not a political thing for us,” she added.

A New Generation’s Call

These personal experiences of tragedy unite individuals across the nation, forming what victims and survivors describe as a “group no one wants to join.”

“We don’t have a group chat, but we all feel compelled in this moment to be a part of the solution,” Pearson said of his colleagues. “The world is full of seemingly unsolvable issues. We’ve given people generations to solve them. And now, with our constituents’ support, it’s our turn.”

He argues that addressing this crisis also requires action on bipartisan issues like mental health access and economic stability, which might find greater support even in conservative legislatures. This broader view shows that being committed to ending gun violence isn’t solely concerning restrictions, but also about addressing the underlying conditions.

“We’re not single-issue candidates,” he emphasized. “We understand the intersectionality of the harms. It’s not just shootings. It’s economic hardship, pollution, deprived communities – these are the places with the most severe rates of violence. We need leaders who have proximity to that reality.”

Ultimately, Pearson contends inaction at the federal level on policies like extreme risk protection orders and waiting periods has deadly outcomes.

“Because of that inaction, people are dying,” he said. “This crisis isn’t going to be solved by repeating old strategies.”