‘It’s Our Turn’: Gun-Safety Advocates Surf a ‘Tectonic’ Surge into American Legislatures.

A new generation of youthful political leaders is ascending to office across the nation by channeling their personal experience with firearms tragedies to push for reforms they believe the country is demanding.

Their rise marks a multi-year shift. Firearms safety has moved from a third-rail issue rarely spoken about on the stump to a central platform that candidates, mostly from the Democratic party, are now campaigning on successfully.

A Collective Exhaustion Drives the Change

This change is fueled in part by a national weariness with gun violence, 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 American lives.

“It’s been an issue that has impacted my life,” explained Justin Pearson. “Serving as a legislator and witnessing a lack of action, while remembering the effects in my neighborhood, that compelled me to say this is an issue we must address urgently.”

Ironically, the day he was sworn in coincided with the deadliest shooting in the state’s history, when six individuals were murdered at a Covenant private school.

From Protest to Prominence

Days later, he and two other state Democrats staged a demonstration on the legislative chamber to call for stronger gun policy. The lawmakers were removed from office for their action, an act that catapulted them to widespread recognition. They later reclaimed their seats.

Subsequently, his sibling died of a firearm suicide. This was far from his only encounter with violent loss; previously, his guide and a old schoolmate were also fatally shot in his hometown.

Now, Pearson is running for a federal office by centering gun violence at the heart 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 emergence of office-seekers focusing on gun violence is also a result of the growing prevention movement across the country, which has become a pipeline 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 soon-to-be governor, were both volunteers with a grassroots safety organization before running for office.
• Cameron Kasky, a survivor who was instrumental in student protests, has recently announced his own campaign for Congress.

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

A Seismic Shift in Politics

Nowadays, challenging gun-rights lobbyists like the NRA is standard practice among Democratic candidates. But in the recent past, many centrist politicians held high ratings from the organization, and the topic of regulating guns was considered a political third rail.

“It was gradual and full of ups and downs,” explained 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.”

Advocates cite the 2012 mass shooting and the lack of action in Congress to pass gun-safety policies as a turning point. This pushed formerly gun-friendly Democrats to abandon their favorable scores to call for limits on high-capacity magazines. 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 boasting of it. That’s a seismic shift,” the activist added. “It dispelled a lot of misperceptions and anxieties about being gun safety-forward.”

Personal Loss Fuels Political Action

The epidemic of gun violence has also mobilized newcomers to politics.

A Tennessee mother lost her son in a Waffle House attack in the city. Years later, another son was shot and injured leaving a concert. After repeated trips of pleading at the capitol with no response, she decided to run for office.

“Testifying for years and having them just dismiss me, made it clear that I needed to do something greater than what I was doing,” she 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 stated.

‘It’s Our Turn’ to Lead

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

“We don’t have a group chat, but we all feel compelled in this time to be a part of the healing,” Pearson said of his fellow advocates. “The world is full of entrenched problems. We’ve given people generations to address them. And now, with our the people behind us, it’s our turn.”

He believes that addressing gun violence also requires action on bipartisan issues like mental health access and economic stability, which might find more traction even in Republican-led legislatures. This broader view shows that being committed to ending gun violence isn’t just about gun laws, but also about addressing the root causes.

“We’re not one-dimensional politicians,” he said. “We understand the intersectionality of the harms. It’s not just gun violence. It’s economic hardship, pollution, neglected neighborhoods – these are the places with the most severe rates of violence. We need leaders who have proximity to that pain.”

In the end, Pearson says a lack of movement at the national level on measures like red flag laws and waiting periods has real consequences.

“Because of that inaction, people are dying,” he said. “This problem isn’t going to be solved by doing what we’ve done in the past.”