A fresh wave of young elected officials is ascending to office across the United States by channeling their personal experience with gun violence to advocate for policy changes they believe the public is demanding.
Their rise signifies a nearly decade-long transformation. Gun violence prevention has moved from a third-rail issue rarely spoken about on campaign trails to a core issue that politicians, mostly Democrats, are now campaigning on successfully.
A Collective Exhaustion Fuels the Change
This change is fueled in part by a national weariness with gun violence, encompassing mass shootings – such as tragedies at Brown University and a Sydney beach – as well as gun-related suicides and community violence, which continue to tear apart too many American lives.
“It’s been an issue that has impacted my life,” explained Justin Pearson. “There was something about a legislator and witnessing government inaction, while recalling the effects in my community, that compelled me to say this is an issue we must prioritize.”
The day he was took office was also the most lethal attack in the state’s history, when six individuals were murdered at a Nashville 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. Pearson and his colleague were removed from office for their protest, an act that catapulted them to national prominence. They later reclaimed their seats.
Subsequently, Pearson’s brother died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. This was not his first experience with tragic death; previously, his mentor and a old schoolmate were also shot and killed in his hometown.
Now, he is campaigning for a seat in the US Congress by placing firearms safety at the heart of his agenda. He highlights how it impacts the state’s youth, for whom firearms injuries are the leading cause of death.
From Activism to Candidacy
The rise of candidates centering this issue is also a product of the growing prevention movement across the nation, which has evolved into a pipeline for new candidates.
- Maxwell Frost, the nation’s first Gen Z US representative, began as a activist with a student-led gun-safety group.
- 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 Parkland survivor who helped to organize national marches, has recently announced his own campaign for a House seat.
“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.”
From Third Rail to Talking Point
Today, calling out gun-rights lobbyists like the NRA is common among Democrats. But in the recent past, many moderate Democrats held ‘A’ grades from the organization, and the subject of regulating guns was considered a political third rail.
“It was a slow process and full of ups and downs,” said a violence-prevention activist. “We saw our supporters seeking election and thought it was logical that someone advocating for laws would want to become a lawmaker.”
Advocates cite the 2012 mass shooting and the subsequent failure in Congress to pass gun-safety policies as a watershed moment. This pushed formerly gun-friendly Democrats to risk their high ratings to call for restrictions on assault weapons. Now, receiving a poor grade from the NRA is a point of pride.
“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 continued. “It shattered a lot of misperceptions and anxieties about being proactive on this issue.”
Personal Loss Fuels Political Action
The epidemic 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 repeated trips of advocating at the statehouse with little result, she chose to become a candidate herself.
“Coming up here for seven years and having them just dismiss me, made it clear that I needed to do something greater than what I was doing,” she said.
“When people see you’re directly affected, they feel that you’re more authentic to talk about this. They know it’s not a political thing for us,” she added.
A New Generation’s Call
These personal experiences of loss unite advocates across the country, 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 called in this moment to be a part of the solution,” Pearson said of his colleagues. “The world is full of entrenched problems. We’ve given people generations to address them. And now, with our constituents’ support, it’s our turn.”
He argues that addressing this crisis also requires focusing on bipartisan issues like mental health access and economic stability, which might find greater support even in Republican-led legislatures. This holistic approach shows that being focused on ending firearms tragedies isn’t solely concerning restrictions, 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, pollution, neglected neighborhoods – these are the places with the most severe rates of violence. We need leaders who have proximity to that pain.”
Ultimately, Pearson contends inaction at the federal level on measures like red flag laws and waiting periods has deadly outcomes.
“Due to this stagnation, people are dying,” he stated firmly. “This problem isn’t going to be solved by repeating old strategies.”
