‘It’s Our Turn’: Firearms-Safety Activists Surf a ‘Seismic’ Surge into American Statehouses.

A new generation of young political leaders is gaining power across the nation by channeling their personal experience with gun violence to advocate for policy changes they believe the country is ready for.

Their ascent marks a multi-year shift. Gun violence prevention has moved from a political taboo seldom discussed on campaign trails to a central platform that candidates, mostly from the Democratic party, are now running – and winning – on.

A Collective Exhaustion Drives the Change

This evolution is fueled in part by a collective exhaustion with gun violence, including large-scale attacks – like tragedies 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.

“It’s been an issue that has impacted my life,” said Justin Pearson. “Serving as a legislator and witnessing a lack of action, while recalling the impact in my community, 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 shot and killed at a Nashville private school.

From Protest to Prominence

Shortly after, he and several fellow legislators led a protest on the house floor to call for stronger gun policy. Pearson and his colleague were expelled for their action, an act that propelled them to national prominence. They later were reinstated.

Months later, his sibling was lost to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. This was not his first experience with tragic death; just years before, his mentor and a former classmate were also shot and killed in Memphis.

Now, he is campaigning for a federal office by centering gun violence at the core of his agenda. He highlights how it affects the state’s young residents, for whom firearms injuries are the primary killer.

A Movement Becomes a Pipeline

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

• Maxwell Frost, the nation’s first Gen Z congressmember, started off as a volunteer with March for Our Lives.
• 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 student protests, has declared his own campaign for Congress.

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

From Third Rail to Talking Point

Nowadays, calling out gun-rights lobbyists like the National Rifle Association is common among Democrats. But in the recent past, many centrist politicians held high ratings from the NRA, and the subject of gun control was considered a career-ending issue.

“It was gradual and not linear,” explained a prominent advocate. “We saw our volunteers running for office and thought it was logical that someone shaping legislation would want to take the next step.”

Advocates cite the 2012 mass shooting and the subsequent failure in Congress to pass gun-safety policies as a turning point. This led formerly gun-friendly Democrats to risk their favorable scores to support limits on assault weapons. Now, receiving a poor grade from the group is a badge of honor.

“After Parkland, no Democratic members of Congress had an A rating and were boasting of it. That’s a seismic shift,” the advocate continued. “It shattered a lot of myths and fears about being proactive on this issue.”

Personal Loss Fuels Political Action

The epidemic of firearms deaths has also mobilized newcomers to politics.

A Tennessee mother lost her son in a Waffle House attack in Nashville. Tragically, another son was shot and injured leaving a music venue. After repeated trips of pleading at the capitol with no response, she chose to run for office.

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

“When people see you’re personally impacted, they feel that you’re more credible to talk about this. They know it’s not a political thing for us,” she stated.

‘It’s Our Turn’ to Lead

These shared stories of loss unite individuals across the country, forming what victims and survivors describe as a “club no one wants to join.”

“We don’t have a formal network, but we all feel called in this moment to be a part of the solution,” the representative said of his colleagues. “The world is full of seemingly unsolvable issues. We’ve given people generations to address them. And now, with our the people behind us, it’s our turn.”

He believes that addressing this crisis also requires action on common-ground problems like mental health access and housing security, which might find greater support even in Republican-led legislatures. This broader view shows that being committed to ending gun violence isn’t solely concerning restrictions, but also about addressing the root causes.

“We’re not one-dimensional politicians,” he said. “We understand the connected nature of the harms. It’s not just gun violence. 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.”

Ultimately, the candidate says inaction at the national level on measures like extreme risk protection orders and waiting periods has deadly outcomes.

“Due to this stagnation, people are dying,” he stated firmly. “This crisis isn’t going to be solved by doing what we’ve done in the past.”