A fresh wave of young elected officials is ascending to office across the United States by leveraging their firsthand encounters with gun violence to push for policy changes they contend the public is demanding.
Their rise marks a nearly decade-long shift. Gun violence prevention has moved from a third-rail issue rarely spoken about on the stump to a core issue that candidates, mostly Democrats, are now campaigning on successfully.
A Collective Exhaustion Fuels the Shift
This evolution is driven partly by a national weariness with firearms deaths, encompassing large-scale attacks – like tragedies at a Rhode Island 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,” explained Justin Pearson. “There was something about a state representative and seeing government inaction, while remembering the effects in my neighborhood, that pushed me to say this is an issue we must prioritize.”
The day he was sworn in coincided with the most lethal attack in Tennessee history, when six individuals were murdered at a Nashville school.
Expulsion and a National Spotlight
Days later, he and several fellow legislators led a protest on the legislative chamber to call for stronger gun policy. The lawmakers were expelled for their action, an act that propelled them to widespread recognition. They eventually were reinstated.
Months later, his sibling died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. This was far from his only encounter with violent loss; just years before, his mentor and a old schoolmate were also shot and killed in Memphis.
Now, he is campaigning for a federal office by placing gun violence at the heart of his agenda. He emphasizes how it impacts the state’s youth, for whom firearms injuries are the primary killer.
From Activism to Candidacy
The rise of office-seekers centering this issue is also a product of the expanding advocacy network across the nation, which has become a recruitment channel for political newcomers.
- Maxwell Frost, the country’s first Generation Z congressmember, began as a activist 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 helped to organize national marches, has recently announced his own run for Congress.
“I see myself as a small part 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 pushed me to get involved.”
A Seismic Shift in Politics
Nowadays, calling out pro-gun groups like the NRA is standard practice among Democratic candidates. 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,” explained a prominent advocate. “We saw our volunteers seeking election and thought it was common sense that someone advocating for laws would want to become a lawmaker.”
Many point to the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy and the lack of action in Congress to pass reforms as a watershed moment. This led formerly gun-friendly Democrats to risk their favorable scores to call for restrictions on assault weapons. 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 proud about it. That’s a seismic shift,” the activist added. “It shattered a lot of myths and anxieties about being gun safety-forward.”
From Grieving Parent to Candidate
The issue of gun violence has also mobilized first-time entrants to public service.
Shaundelle Brooks lost her son in a Waffle House attack in Nashville. Years later, another son was wounded leaving a music venue. After years of pleading at the capitol with little result, she chose to run for office.
“Coming up here for years and having them just dismiss me, made it clear that I needed to do more than what I was doing,” she said.
“When people see you’re directly affected, they feel that you’re more credible 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 unite advocates across the country, forming what those affected describe as a “group 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,” Pearson said of his colleagues. “The world is full of entrenched problems. We’ve given people decades to solve them. And now, with our the people behind us, the moment is ours.”
Pearson believes that addressing gun violence also requires focusing on common-ground problems like mental health access and economic stability, which might find more traction even in conservative legislatures. This broader view shows that being committed to ending gun violence isn’t solely concerning restrictions, but also about addressing the root causes.
“We’re not one-dimensional politicians,” 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 experienced that reality.”
Ultimately, the candidate contends a lack of movement at the national level on policies like red flag laws and cooling-off periods has real consequences.
“Because of that inaction, people are dying,” he stated firmly. “This problem won’t be fixed by doing what we’ve done in the past.”
