‘It’s Our Turn’: Gun-Safety Activists Ride a ‘Seismic’ Surge into US Legislatures.

A new generation of young political leaders is gaining power across the nation by channeling their personal experience with firearms tragedies to advocate for reforms they believe the public is demanding.

Their rise signifies a nearly decade-long shift. Gun violence prevention has moved from a third-rail issue rarely spoken about on the stump to a central platform 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 collective exhaustion with gun violence, including large-scale attacks – such as tragedies at a Rhode Island university and a Sydney beach – as well as firearms suicides and street violence, which continue to tear apart countless American lives.

“This is a problem that has directly touched me,” said Justin Pearson. “There was something about a legislator and witnessing a lack of action, while remembering the impact in my neighborhood, that pushed me to say this is an issue we must address urgently.”

Ironically, the day he was took office coincided with the most lethal attack in Tennessee history, when six individuals were murdered at a Covenant school.

Expulsion and a National Spotlight

Days later, he and several state Democrats staged a demonstration on the legislative chamber to call for stricter firearms laws. Pearson and his colleague were expelled for their protest, an act that propelled them to widespread recognition. They later reclaimed their seats.

Months later, his sibling died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. This was not his first encounter with tragic death; previously, his guide and a former classmate were also shot and killed in Memphis.

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

A Movement Becomes a Pipeline

The rise of office-seekers centering this issue is also a product of the growing prevention movement across the nation, which has evolved into a recruitment channel for new candidates.

• Maxwell Frost, the nation’s first Generation Z congressmember, began as a activist with March for Our Lives.
• Lucy McBath, a Congresswoman, and Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia governor-elect, were both volunteers with Moms Demand Action before running for office.
• Cameron Kasky, a survivor who was instrumental in national marches, has recently announced his own campaign for a House seat.

“I see myself as a piece of a bigger movement. It’s the driving force I got into politics,” noted the congressman. “I was 15 when the Newtown tragedy happened and that’s what pushed me to get involved.”

From Third Rail to Talking Point

Today, calling out pro-gun groups like the National Rifle Association is standard practice among Democrats. But less than 15 years ago, many centrist politicians held ‘A’ grades from the NRA, and the subject of regulating guns was considered a political third rail.

“It was a slow process and not linear,” 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 Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy and the subsequent failure in Washington to pass gun-safety policies as a turning point. This led formerly gun-friendly Democrats to abandon their favorable scores to call for limits on assault weapons. Now, receiving a poor grade from the group is a point of pride.

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

From Grieving Parent to Candidate

The issue of firearms deaths has also mobilized first-time entrants to public service.

Shaundelle Brooks lost her son in a Waffle House attack in Nashville. Tragically, another son was wounded leaving a concert. After repeated trips of pleading at the capitol with no response, she decided to run for office.

“Coming up here for seven years and having them just ignoring me, made it clear that I needed to do more than what I was doing,” Brooks said.

“When people see you’re directly affected, they feel that you’re more authentic to talk about this. They know it’s not a partisan game for us,” she added.

A New Generation’s Call

These shared stories of tragedy unite individuals across the country, forming what those affected describe as a “club no one wants to join.”

“We don’t have a formal network, but we all feel called in this time to be a part of the solution,” the representative said of his fellow advocates. “The world is riddled with entrenched problems. We’ve given people generations to address them. And now, with our constituents’ support, the moment is ours.”

He argues that addressing this crisis also requires action on bipartisan issues like veteran suicides and housing security, which might find greater support even in conservative legislatures. This holistic approach shows that being committed to ending firearms tragedies isn’t just about gun laws, but also about improving the underlying conditions.

“We’re not one-dimensional politicians,” he said. “We understand the connected nature of the problems. It’s not just shootings. It’s poverty, environmental issues, deprived communities – these are the places with the most severe rates of violence. We need leaders who have experienced that reality.”

Ultimately, Pearson says a lack of movement at the federal level on measures like red flag laws and cooling-off periods has real consequences.

“Due to this stagnation, people are dying,” he said. “This crisis won’t be fixed by doing what we’ve done in the past.”