School Gun Violence
This work, which is being led by SURGE researchers, is exploring the numerous ways gun violence impacts school communities, including students, teachers, school leaders, and families. Current projects, publications, and relevant media are included below.
Current Projects
School Phone Policies and Student Outcomes
Ongoing research examining how school phone policies (e.g., full bans, partial restrictions, or no policies) shape school safety, student well-being, and academic outcomes across U.S. schools.
School Policies and Practices to Prevent Gun Violence
Research evaluating broader school-based strategies, policies, and environments to improve safety and student well-being.
Gun-Free Zones and School Safety
Work examining firearm-related crime and safety outcomes in and around school environments.
A Nationwide Case-Control Study of Firearm Violence Prevention Tactics and Policies in K-12 Schools
Branas C & Rajan S. This work is exploring the relationship between various policies, school security strategies and active shootings in K - 12 schools across the U.S.
Media
How to Make Active Shooter Drills Less Traumatizing for Students
TIME, 2025. Article examining how active shooter drills may produce trauma for students and recommending trauma-informed alternatives to traditional drill simulations.
School Active Shooter Drills: Mitigating Risks to Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Health
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2025. Consensus study overview highlighting gaps in evidence about the effects of active shooter drills and other security measures on student and staff mental health and outlining future research priorities.
How Do You Prepare Kids for a Possible School Shooting Without Causing Trauma?
The Trace, October 2025. Feature discussing the increased prevalence of active shooter drills and debates over their psychological impact on students and potential alternatives to enhance safety without harm.
School Active Shooter Safety and Student Well-Being
National Academies project overview from the Board on Children, Youth, and Families, highlighting expert sessions on drills, security measures, and impacts on student health.
Texas laws allow teachers to carry guns on school grounds with little regulation
Taylor Mooney, Lilia Luciano, and Justin Sherman, CBS, November 17, 2022
Reimagining School Safety
Sonali Rajan speaks to the Digital Futures Institute, Teachers College, Columbia University, November 9, 2022
In a single week in America, 4 communities confronted the aftermath of different school shootings. Then, shots rang out in another school
Christina Maxouris, CNN, November 4, 2022
The Uvalde Shooting was Almost Six Months Ago. Here’s What You Need to Know About Gun Violence
Teachers College Newsroom, October 12, 2022
Trained, Armed and Ready. To Teach Kindergarten
By Sarah Mervosh, New York Times, July 31, 2022
Gun Violence a ‘Solvable Problem’, but Not a Quick Fix
Interviewed by Cheryl Wills on NY1, May 26, 2022
Why our response to school shootings is all wrong
Los Angeles Times Op-Ed authored by Louis Klarevas, Sonali Rajan, and Charles Branas, May 25, 2022
Guiding School Safety Strategies with Rigorous Scientific Research
Everytown Research and Policy’s Safety in Numbers Series, Post authored by Sonali Rajan, August 26, 2021
As We Reimagine Schooling, Let’s Reimagine Gun Violence Prevention Too.
Hechinger Report Op-Ed authored by Sonali Rajan and Charles Branas, December 8, 2020
Shots that Echo for a Lifetime
Newsroom, Teachers College, Columbia University - August 2019
Relevant Publications
Afterschool Pediatric Firearm Assaults: A Regression Discontinuity Analysis
Emma L. Gause, Sean McLone, Dawn Myers, Christopher Rick, Sonali Rajan, M. Maria Glymour, Jonathan Jay, American Journal of Preventive Medicine Focus, 2025. Using a regression discontinuity design, this study finds that pediatric firearm assaults increase significantly during afterschool hours, highlighting elevated risk beyond school grounds and underscoring the need for community-based prevention strategies that extend beyond the school day.
Protocol for a Nationwide Case-Control Study of Firearm Violence Prevention Tactics and Policies in K-12 Schools
Navjot Buttar, Sonali Rajan, Louis Klarevas, Seth J. Prins, Justin Heinze, Ken Cheung, Kara E. Rudolph, Monika Goyal, April Zeoli, Charles C. Branas, PLoS ONE, 2024. National case-control research protocol designed to assess the associations between the number/type of school safety tactics and policies and the occurrence of intentional shootings in U.S. K-12 public schools.
School Violence Exposure and Intentional Shooting Outcomes
Sonali Rajan, Navjot Buttar, Zahra Ladhani, Jennifer Caruso, John P. Allegrante, Charles C. Branas, JMIR Research Protocols, 2024. Nationwide observational study protocol evaluating school violence exposure, safety perceptions, and adolescent outcomes across schools with varying histories of intentional shootings.
The Effect of Gun-Free School Zones on Crimes Committed with a Firearm in Saint Louis, Missouri
Paul M. Reeping et al., Journal of Urban Health, 2023. This study evaluates firearm-related crime patterns around school zones, contributing evidence to inform school safety policies.
State Firearm Laws, Gun Ownership, and K-12 School Shootings
Paul M. Reeping, Louis J. Klarevas, Sonali Rajan, Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, Justin Heinze, April M. Zeoli, Monika K. Goyal, Marc Zimmerman, Charles C. Branas, Journal of School Violence, 2022. Time-series analysis showing that more permissive state firearm laws and higher levels of gun ownership were associated with increased rates of both school shootings and active school shootings.
Experiences of Online Bullying and Offline Violence-Related Behaviors Among U.S. Adolescents, 2011–2019
Noah T. Kreski, Qixuan Chen, Mark Olfson, Magdalena Cerdá, Silvia S. Martins, Pia M. Mauro, Charles C. Branas, Sonali Rajan, Katherine M. Keyes, Journal of School Health, 2022. Analysis of national survey data linking online bullying experiences with offline weapon carrying and violence-related behaviors among adolescents.
Gun violence in K-12 schools in the United States: Moving towards a preventive (versus reactive) framework
Rajan S, Reeping P, Ladhani Z, Vasudevan L, Branas C, Preventive Medicine, 2022. This paper advances a shift toward preventive approaches to school gun violence, emphasizing proactive strategies to improve school safety and student outcomes.
State firearm laws, gun ownership, and K-12 school shootings: Implications for school safety
Reeping P, Klarevas L, Rajan S, Rowhani-Rahbar A, Heinze J, Zeoli A, Goyal M, Zimmerman M, Branas C, Journal of School Violence, 2022
K-12 School Shootings: Implications for Policy, Prevention, and Child Well-Being
Reeping P, Gobaud A, Branas C, Rajan S, Pediatric clinics of North America, 2021. This review synthesizes research on school shootings, highlighting implications for prevention, policy, and child and adolescent well-being.
Suicidality and Exposure to School-Based Violence Among a Nationally Representative Sample of Asian American and Pacific Islander Adolescents
Rajan S, Arora P, Cheng B, Khoo, O, Verdeli H, School Psychology Review (Special Issue: School Violence and School Safety), 2021
Arming Schoolteachers: What Do We Know? Where Do We Go From Here?
Rajan S and Branas C, American Journal of Public Health, 2018
School Shootings During 2013 - 2015 in the USA
Kalesan B, Lagast K, Villarreal A, Pino E, Fagan J, Galea S, Injury Prevention, 2017