‘It’s Our Turn’: Firearms-Safety Advocates Ride a ‘Seismic’ Surge into American Legislatures.

A new generation of youthful elected officials is ascending to office across the United States by channeling their firsthand encounters with firearms tragedies to advocate for reforms they believe the country is ready for.

Their ascent marks a multi-year shift. Gun violence prevention has moved from a political taboo rarely spoken about on the stump to a core issue that candidates, mostly from the Democratic party, are now running – and winning – on.

Widespread Fatigue Fuels the Shift

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

“This is a problem that has impacted my life,” said a Tennessee state representative. “Serving as a state representative and seeing government inaction, while recalling the effects in my community, that compelled me to say this is an issue we must prioritize.”

Ironically, the day he was took office coincided with the deadliest shooting in Tennessee history, when three children and three adults were shot and killed at a Nashville private school.

From Protest to Prominence

Shortly after, he and several state Democrats led a protest on the legislative chamber to demand stricter firearms laws. The lawmakers were removed from office for their protest, an act that propelled them to national prominence. They later reclaimed their seats.

Subsequently, his sibling died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. This was far from his only experience with tragic death; just years before, his mentor and a former classmate were also fatally shot in Memphis.

Now, he is campaigning for a seat in the US Congress by centering gun violence at the core of his agenda. He emphasizes how it affects the state’s young residents, for whom gunshot wounds are the leading cause of death.

From Activism to Candidacy

The emergence of office-seekers focusing on this issue is also a result of the growing advocacy network across the nation, which has become a recruitment channel for new candidates.

• Maxwell Frost, the country’s first Gen Z US representative, started off as a volunteer with March for Our Lives.
• Lucy McBath, a Congresswoman, and Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia governor-elect, were both involved with Moms Demand Action before running for office.
• Cameron Kasky, a survivor who helped to organize national marches, has declared his own run for Congress.

“I see myself as a small part of a bigger movement. 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

Today, challenging pro-gun groups like the National Rifle Association is standard practice 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 political third rail.

“It was gradual and not linear,” said a prominent advocate. “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 gun-safety policies as a turning point. This led formerly gun-friendly Democrats to risk their favorable scores to call for limits on high-capacity magazines. Now, receiving a poor grade from the NRA is a point of pride.

“After Parkland, no Democratic members of Congress had an A rating and were boasting of it. That’s a dramatic change,” the activist added. “It shattered a lot of misperceptions and fears about being proactive on this issue.”

From Grieving Parent to Candidate

The issue of gun violence has also mobilized first-time entrants to politics.

Shaundelle Brooks lost her son in a Waffle House attack in the city. Tragically, another son was wounded leaving a concert. After repeated trips of pleading at the capitol with little result, she chose to run for office.

“Coming up here for years and having them just dismiss me, showed me that I needed to do more than what I was doing,” Brooks said.

“Knowing you’re personally impacted, they feel that you’re more authentic to talk about this. They know it’s not a partisan game for us,” she added.

‘It’s Our Turn’ to Lead

These shared stories of tragedy connect individuals across the nation, forming what those affected 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 riddled with seemingly unsolvable issues. We’ve given people generations to address them. And now, with our the people behind us, the moment is ours.”

Pearson argues that tackling gun violence also requires focusing on bipartisan issues like veteran suicides and economic stability, which might find greater support even in Republican-led legislatures. This holistic approach shows that being committed to ending firearms tragedies isn’t solely concerning gun laws, but also about improving the underlying conditions.

“We’re not single-issue candidates,” he said. “We understand the connected nature of the harms. It’s not just shootings. It’s poverty, environmental issues, deprived communities – these are the places with the highest levels of violence. We need leaders who have proximity to that pain.”

In the end, Pearson contends inaction at the federal level on policies like extreme risk protection orders and cooling-off periods has deadly outcomes.

“Because of that inaction, people are dying,” he said. “This problem won’t be fixed by repeating old strategies.”