‘Now Is Our Moment’: Gun-Safety Activists Ride a ‘Seismic’ Surge into American Statehouses.

A new generation of young elected officials is gaining power across the nation by leveraging their firsthand encounters with gun violence to push for reforms they believe the public is demanding.

Their rise signifies a multi-year shift. Firearms safety has moved from a third-rail issue seldom discussed on campaign trails to a central platform that candidates, mostly from the Democratic party, are now campaigning on successfully.

Widespread Fatigue Drives the Change

This change is fueled in part by a national weariness 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 too many families and communities.

“It’s been an issue that has directly touched me,” explained a Tennessee state representative. “There was something about a state representative and witnessing a lack of action, while recalling the impact in my neighborhood, that compelled me to say this is an issue we must address urgently.”

The day he was took office was also the most lethal attack in the state’s history, when three children and three adults were shot and killed at a Covenant school.

Expulsion and a National Spotlight

Shortly after, he and two other fellow legislators staged a demonstration on the house floor to call for stricter firearms laws. The lawmakers were removed from office for their action, an act that propelled them to national prominence. They eventually were reinstated.

Subsequently, Pearson’s brother was lost to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. This was far from his only encounter with tragic death; just years before, his mentor and a old schoolmate were also fatally shot in his hometown.

Now, he is campaigning for a federal office by centering firearms safety at the core of his agenda. He emphasizes how it affects the state’s young residents, for whom firearms injuries are the leading cause of death.

From Activism to Candidacy

The rise of office-seekers focusing on this issue is also a result of the growing advocacy network across the country, which has become a pipeline for political newcomers.

• Maxwell Frost, the country’s first Generation Z congressmember, started off as a activist with March for Our Lives.
• Lucy McBath, a Georgia representative, and Abigail Spanberger, a soon-to-be governor, were both involved with a grassroots safety organization before running for office.
• Cameron Kasky, a survivor who was instrumental in student protests, has declared his own campaign for Congress.

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

A Seismic Shift in Politics

Today, calling out gun-rights lobbyists like the NRA is common among Democrats. But less than 15 years ago, many moderate Democrats held high ratings from the NRA, and the topic of gun control was considered a political third rail.

“It was a slow process and not linear,” said a violence-prevention activist. “We saw our supporters running for office 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 subsequent failure in Washington to pass reforms as a turning point. This pushed once NRA-backed politicians 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, no Democratic members of Congress had an A rating and were proud about it. That’s a seismic shift,” the advocate continued. “It dispelled a lot of misperceptions and fears about being gun safety-forward.”

From Grieving Parent to Candidate

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

Shaundelle Brooks lost her son in a 2018 mass shooting in the city. Years later, another son was wounded leaving a music venue. After repeated trips of advocating at the statehouse with no response, she chose to become a candidate herself.

“Coming up here for seven years and having them just dismiss me, showed me 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 political thing for us,” she stated.

A New Generation’s Call

These shared stories of tragedy connect 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 compelled in this moment to be a part of the healing,” the representative said of his colleagues. “The world is full of entrenched problems. We’ve given people generations to solve them. And now, with our constituents’ support, it’s our turn.”

Pearson argues that tackling gun violence also requires action on common-ground problems like mental health access and economic stability, which might find greater support even in Republican-led legislatures. This holistic approach shows that being committed to ending gun violence isn’t just about 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, environmental issues, deprived communities – 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 inaction at the national level on policies like extreme risk protection orders and waiting periods has real consequences.

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