A fresh wave of youthful political leaders is gaining power across the United States by channeling their personal experience with gun violence to push for policy changes they believe the country is demanding.
Their ascent marks a nearly decade-long transformation. Firearms safety has moved from a third-rail issue rarely spoken about on the stump 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 collective exhaustion with firearms deaths, encompassing mass shootings – like recent incidents at Brown University and a Sydney beach – as well as firearms suicides and street violence, which continue to tear apart countless American lives.
“It’s been an issue that has impacted my life,” said a Tennessee state representative. “Serving as a legislator and witnessing government inaction, while remembering the impact in my neighborhood, that compelled me to say this is an issue we must prioritize.”
Ironically, the day he was sworn in coincided with the deadliest shooting in Tennessee history, when three children and three adults were shot and killed at a Nashville private school.
Expulsion and a National Spotlight
Shortly after, he and several state Democrats led a protest on the legislative chamber to call for stricter firearms laws. The lawmakers were expelled for their action, an act that catapulted them to national prominence. They eventually were reinstated.
Months later, Pearson’s brother died of a firearm suicide. This was not his first encounter with tragic death; previously, his mentor and a old schoolmate were also fatally shot in his hometown.
Now, he is campaigning for a seat in the US Congress by centering gun violence at the core of his campaign platform. He highlights how it impacts the state’s young residents, for whom firearms injuries are the leading cause of death.
A Movement Becomes a Pipeline
The rise of candidates centering this issue is also a product of the growing advocacy network across the nation, which has evolved into a pipeline for new candidates.
- Maxwell Frost, the nation’s first Gen 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 Moms Demand Action before entering politics.
- Cameron Kasky, a survivor who was instrumental in student protests, has recently announced his own run for Congress.
“I see myself as a piece of a bigger movement. It’s the reason I got into politics,” noted Frost. “I was 15 when the Newtown tragedy happened and that’s what inspired me to get involved.”
From Third Rail to Talking Point
Nowadays, challenging gun-rights lobbyists like the National Rifle Association is standard practice among Democrats. But in the recent past, many moderate Democrats held ‘A’ grades from the organization, and the topic of regulating guns was considered a career-ending issue.
“It was a slow process and full of ups and downs,” explained a prominent advocate. “We saw our volunteers seeking election and thought it was common sense that someone shaping legislation would want to become a lawmaker.”
Advocates cite the 2012 mass shooting and the lack of action in Congress to pass reforms as a turning point. This led once NRA-backed politicians to abandon their high ratings to call for restrictions on high-capacity magazines. Now, receiving a poor grade from the NRA is a badge of honor.
“After Parkland, zero 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 misperceptions and anxieties about being gun safety-forward.”
From Grieving Parent to Candidate
The issue of gun violence has also mobilized first-time entrants to politics.
Shaundelle Brooks lost her son in a 2018 mass shooting in Nashville. Years later, another son was shot and injured leaving a concert. After repeated trips of advocating at the capitol with no response, she chose to become a candidate herself.
“Testifying for years and having them just ignoring me, made it clear that I needed to do something greater 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 shared stories 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 time to be a part of the solution,” the representative said of his colleagues. “The world is riddled with entrenched problems. We’ve given people generations to solve them. And now, with our constituents’ support, the moment is ours.”
He argues that tackling gun violence also requires action on bipartisan issues like veteran suicides and economic stability, which might find greater support even in Republican-led legislatures. This broader view shows that being committed to ending firearms tragedies isn’t solely concerning gun laws, but also about addressing the root causes.
“We’re not single-issue candidates,” he said. “We understand the intersectionality of the harms. It’s not just gun violence. It’s economic hardship, pollution, deprived communities – these are the places with the most severe rates of violence. We need leaders who have proximity to that reality.”
In the end, Pearson says inaction at the national level on measures like red flag laws and cooling-off periods has real consequences.
“Because of that inaction, people are dying,” he stated firmly. “This crisis won’t be fixed by repeating old strategies.”
