‘The Time Has Come’: Gun-Safety Advocates Ride a ‘Tectonic’ Wave into US Statehouses.

A fresh wave of youthful political leaders is gaining power across the nation by channeling their firsthand encounters with firearms tragedies to advocate for reforms they contend the public is demanding.

Their ascent marks a multi-year shift. Firearms safety has moved from a third-rail issue seldom discussed on campaign trails to a core issue that politicians, mostly from the Democratic party, are now campaigning on successfully.

A Collective Exhaustion Fuels the Change

This evolution is fueled in part by a collective exhaustion with firearms deaths, encompassing large-scale attacks – like tragedies at Brown University and Bondi 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 directly touched me,” said Justin Pearson. “There was something about a legislator and seeing government inaction, while recalling the effects in my community, that pushed me to say this is an issue we must address urgently.”

Ironically, the day he was sworn in was also the deadliest shooting in Tennessee history, when three children and three adults were shot and killed at a Covenant school.

Expulsion and a National Spotlight

Shortly after, he and several fellow legislators staged a demonstration on the house floor to call for stronger gun policy. The lawmakers were expelled for their protest, an act that propelled them to widespread recognition. They later were reinstated.

Subsequently, his sibling died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. This was not his first encounter with violent loss; previously, his guide and a old schoolmate were also shot and killed in Memphis.

Now, Pearson is running for a seat in the US Congress by centering gun violence at the heart of his agenda. He emphasizes how it affects the state’s youth, for whom firearms injuries are the primary killer.

From Activism to Candidacy

The rise of candidates centering this issue is also a result of the expanding prevention movement across the nation, which has evolved into a pipeline for new candidates.

• Maxwell Frost, the nation’s first Generation Z congressmember, started off as a activist with March for Our Lives.
• Lucy McBath, a Congresswoman, and Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia governor-elect, were both involved with a grassroots safety organization before running for office.
• Cameron Kasky, a Parkland survivor who helped to organize student protests, 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,” said 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

Nowadays, calling out pro-gun groups like the NRA is common among Democrats. But in the recent past, many moderate Democrats held ‘A’ grades from the NRA, and the topic of regulating guns was considered a career-ending issue.

“It was a slow process and not linear,” explained a prominent advocate. “We saw our volunteers seeking election and thought it was logical 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 reforms as a turning point. This led once NRA-backed politicians to abandon their high ratings to support restrictions on assault weapons. Now, receiving a poor grade from the group is a badge of honor.

“After the Florida school shooting, no Democratic members of Congress had an A rating and were proud about it. That’s a dramatic change,” the activist added. “It shattered a lot of misperceptions and fears about being gun safety-forward.”

From Grieving Parent to Candidate

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

A Tennessee mother lost her son in a 2018 mass shooting in the city. Years later, another son was shot and injured leaving a music venue. After years of advocating at the statehouse with no response, she decided 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 credible to talk about this. They know it’s not a partisan game for us,” she added.

A New Generation’s Call

These personal experiences of loss unite advocates 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 called in this moment to be a part of the healing,” the representative said of his colleagues. “The world is riddled with 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 focusing on bipartisan issues like veteran suicides and housing security, which might find more traction even in conservative legislatures. This holistic approach shows that being focused on ending gun violence isn’t solely concerning gun laws, but also about improving the underlying conditions.

“We’re not one-dimensional politicians,” he said. “We understand the intersectionality of the harms. It’s not just gun violence. It’s poverty, pollution, neglected neighborhoods – these are the places with the highest levels of violence. We need leaders who have experienced that reality.”

Ultimately, the candidate 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 isn’t going to be solved by repeating old strategies.”