The nation was shocked on April 20, 1999, when 12 students and one teacher were killed in a mass shooting at Columbine High School outside of Denver, Colorado. In the 20 years since, through other prominent school shootings from Sandy Hook to Parkland and an ongoing rise in U.S. shooting deaths, Columbine has loomed large in our politics, policy, and culture.
Survivor Believes Teachers Should Be Allowed To Carry Guns
Columbine survivor Evan Todd has clear memories of the day two killers murdered his classmates. (Credit: Leigh Paterson, 糖心vlog传媒)
Evan Todd still has sharp memories of April 20, 1999. As a sophomore at Columbine High School, he was in the library with his friends on that cool, sunny morning, attempting to write a paper but really just goofing off, throwing around wads of paper.
In an instant, though, everything changed. Todd remembers an explosion, smoke, and then pops of gunfire echoing through the hallways. He felt a rush of adrenaline as panic set in around him.
鈥淚 remember thinking, 鈥楽omeone with a gun has got to come in here like any day,鈥欌�� Todd said. 鈥淵ou just think they鈥檙e going to come in and stop these guys and we鈥檙e gonna get out of here. And, nothing.鈥�
Todd watched as the two killers murdered his classmates, execution-style.
鈥淥ne of them kneeled down and put a gun to my head and said, 鈥榃hy shouldn鈥檛 we kill you?鈥欌赌� remembered Todd. 鈥淎nd so when they came up to me, I really thought, 鈥楾his is it, this is the end of my life.鈥欌��
The killers didn鈥檛 pull the trigger. Todd survived.
His experiences that day have informed his thinking on safety and guns. Todd now believes a teacher who is allowed to carry a firearm can make a difference during a school shooting.
He is a gun owner and a concealed carry permit holder himself. Earlier this year, that would allow people to carry guns on school grounds and on the issue.
鈥淲hat actually stops these from happening? And in the world we live in, a firearm is one of those ways,鈥� said Todd, speaking about school shootings. 鈥淎nd a firearm would have saved lives at Columbine.鈥�
Columbine survivor Evan Todd makes lunch as his young son pulls on his shirt. Todd has become even more passionate about school safety since becoming a father. (Credit: Leigh Paterson, 糖心vlog传媒)
Arming Teachers
Research on the effects of armed teachers in schools is sparse, but according to of 160 active shooter situations in many types of locations, an armed civilian or security guard stopped just five of these incidents.
Experts who are critical of teachers carrying guns say that this trend could result in dangerous situations such as accidental firings and gun thefts all in the name of solving a problem that is rare: mass shootings account for .
Regardless of data, though, the fear that Todd experienced at Columbine is driving policy in many parts of the country. The national outcry and media attention after mass shooting incidents has galvanized responses across all political lines.
Currently, teachers or other school staff in districts in 31 states can legally carry weapons in schools, .
Graphic by Luis Melgar & Matt Richmond, Guns & America
Some states have set policies, but often because of pressure from parents to do something, some local school districts have made their own decisions. There aren鈥檛 any federal standards, though erupted over the legality of using federal funding to buy guns for schools.
鈥淲hat is interesting to me is that we鈥檝e spent as a nation the past five or 10 years increasingly being critical of law enforcement,鈥� said Ken Trump, president of National School Safety Services and an expert on emergency preparedness鈥� 鈥淎nd we鈥檝e demanded more training, more scrutiny. And at the same time now, we were having conversation where we say give somebody much less training compared to a police officer. Put him in a school and, and everything鈥檚 going to be better.鈥�
For Todd, though, the potential benefits simply outweigh the potential risks.
鈥淗ad I not gone through it, I don鈥檛 know if I would have the same perspective,鈥� said Todd. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 that difficult part because I can see that side of it if you hadn鈥檛 gone through something. People carry on because they know how rare and how safe their children are. But I鈥檝e seen evil in this world. And ignoring it never does anything.鈥�
The Evolution Of Mental Health Care
Columbine High School looks much as it did 20 years ago when it became the site of a deadly school shooting. (Credit: Leigh Paterson, 糖心vlog传媒)
While it may look like any other high school, Columbine鈥檚 history as a site of a deadly school shooting sets it apart. Some of the changes are physical; the building has a new library to replace the old one, where the majority of the students were killed that day. Now, a plaque is mounted at the new library鈥檚 entrance, dedicated to the 13 victims.
This plaque is one of the few reminders inside Columbine High School of the shooting in 1999. (Credit: Leigh Paterson, 糖心vlog传媒)
Other changes are more systemic. This school shooting changed the trajectory of mental health services in Colorado schools, with the goal of preventing future violence. And over the years, it has continued to shape the national conversation, as well.
Finding 鈥楢 Place Of Community And Love鈥�
Columbine guidance counselor Noel Sudano says that she doesn鈥檛 see a connection between current worries that some of her students have about school shootings and the incident that took place 20 years ago. (Credit: Leigh Paterson, 糖心vlog传媒)
Today, Noel Sudano is a guidance counselor at Columbine High School, but 20 years ago she was a sophomore at the school. She is one of a handful of former students who now work there. She smiles and laughs often, despite the difficult issues she deals with routinely.
鈥淎nxiety is huge and there are a lot of kids that are dealing with higher levels of anxiety then [sic] I ever remembered coming up in high school,鈥� said Sudano.
by the Pew Research Center confirms what Sudano is seeing: high levels of depression and anxiety .
As for school shootings, Sudano says that some kids do worry but that she doesn鈥檛 see much of a connection between the shooting 20 years ago and concerns today.
With a caseload of 350 students, Sudano says she sometimes feels stretched thin but remains an 鈥榚ternal optimist,鈥� in thinking about her student鈥檚 futures. (Credit: Leigh Paterson, 糖心vlog传媒)
鈥淸W]hen everything started happening, I was in my math class,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 remember that day it turned from, like, flirting screams to, like, terrified screams. And my teacher, she tried to kind of keep lecturing through it and then she stopped and I could see her face just went white.鈥�
The Columbine Memorial which is next to the high school, situated in an area called Clement Park, opened in 2007. (Credit: Leigh Paterson, 糖心vlog传媒)
So, why after that experience, did Sudano return to Columbine as a professional?
鈥淚t鈥檚 weird, right?鈥� Sudano said, with a laugh. 鈥淚 think that it just felt like a calling to me. It felt like an opportunity for me to serve the community that did so much to wrap its arms around us on such a horrible day.鈥�
She says coming back has also helped her process what she went through.
鈥淚t helps me to reclaim some of the emotions that I have towards Columbine,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ecause now, I can say that this is a place of community and love and health and joy. And when I finished high school, it didn鈥檛 necessarily feel that way.鈥�
Mental Health Care Since Columbine
The shooting at Columbine spurred an evaluation of mental health services for high school students. A task force put together by Colorado鈥檚 governor in 2000 recommended including anonymous tip lines, bullying prevention programs, and threat assessment teams.
Over the years, and at times following other incidents of school violence, other states, school districts, and communities around the country made their own changes. Last year, Virginia and New York became to pass laws . recently opened in Parkland, Florida, to serve students, parents, and faculty after the nearby school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last year, and in March, a pair of .
鈥淚 think for a while there was the perception that schools are built to provide education,鈥� said Sarah Goodrum, chair of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Northern Colorado. 鈥淭hat they鈥檙e not built to provide mental health or social support services. I think that philosophy has changed a lot since Columbine.鈥�
Kids who become school shooters represent the tip of the iceberg, she explains, the worst-case scenario.
鈥淲e want to work on moving our efforts more toward prevention so that we can get at the underlying root causes of violence,鈥� said Goodrum, 鈥渘ot just the worst-case scenario of school violence.鈥�
The types of incidents that are much more common than shootings are the rest of the iceberg, like bullying, self-harm, physical fights and drugs.
Guy Grace has been working in school security for decades. He says the job has become much more complex over the years. (Credit: Leigh Paterson, 糖心vlog传媒)
After the Columbine shooting, Colorado launched a phone number, website, and app on which anyone can anonymously report a concern or threat. has adopted it and similar programs are in place in , and , among several other states.
Guy Grace, the director of security at in Colorado, is one of the people who actually fields Safe2Tell messages. He gets the alerts throughout the school day, in the middle of the night, on weekends and holidays.
During the 2017-2018 school year, , through Safe2Tell. The most common are suicide threats, followed by drugs and bullying. Over the course of that school year, 692 Safe2Tell messages were classified as 鈥淧lanned School Attack,鈥� .
Unfortunately, the system is sometimes abused. It also doesn鈥檛 always work. Grace described receiving Safe2Tell reports of suicidal kids but then not getting there in time.
But Grace says he鈥檚 still willing to devote his free time to Safe2Tell, 鈥渂ecause it works.鈥�
Although Safe2Tell is an important tool for Guy Grace, he also oversees a complex physical security system for Littleton Public Schools. (Courtesy, Littleton Public Schools Security)
Littleton Public Schools also have some serious physical security: Over 100 video screens, more than 10,000 security cameras, audio feeds and an automatic background check system to screen for sex offenders. Grace says he relies on technology as his 鈥渓ast resort.鈥�
鈥淪o when I look about mental health, it鈥檚 wonderful to see now that we are trying to get on that to where we鈥檙e trying to stop a school shooting, or a suicide, or bullying or whatever that hazard is related to mental health before it blows up into something bigger,鈥� Grace said.
Activism After Columbine
For generations, many activists who have called for stricter gun regulations can point to a mass shooting that spurred them to act. Movements sprung from Sandy Hook, the Pulse nightclub shooting, Parkland 鈥� and the list continues to grow.
Columbine was no different.
November 7, 2000 鈥� election night in Denver, Colorado 鈥� was big for Tom Mauser. His son Daniel was one of the 12 students killed at Columbine. The following year, Tom was an activist celebrating the passage of a Colorado ballot measure called Amendment 22, which closed something commonly called the , by requiring background checks for firearm purchases at gun shows.
Tom Mauser at his church in Littleton, Colo. His son Daniel was murdered 20 years ago during the shooting at Columbine High School. (Leigh Paterson, 糖心vlog传媒)
鈥淛ust two weeks before his death Daniel asked me a question at the dinner table out of the blue,鈥� Mauser remembers. 鈥淗e said, 鈥楧ad did, you know there were ?鈥欌赌�
The Brady Bill, passed in 1999, is a national law that requires background checks when purchasing a handgun from a gun shop.
鈥淎nd I just kind of didn鈥檛 pay much attention. I said, 鈥楴o, I didn鈥檛 know there were loopholes,鈥欌�� said Mauser. 鈥淒aniel, two weeks later he was killed with a gun that was purchased through a loophole in the Brady Bill.鈥�
The marker for Daniel Mauser at the Columbine Memorial. (Leigh Paterson, 糖心vlog传媒)
Mauser responded by getting involved almost immediately 鈥� starting with protesting the NRA鈥檚 annual convention 鈥� which was scheduled to take place in Denver less than two weeks after the shooting at Columbine, (The 1999 annual convention , but was not canceled.)
Mauser鈥檚 push for gun control continued after the NRA鈥檚 annual conference. He traveled to Washington, D.C., to talk to lawmakers about closing the gun show loophole; he lobbied state legislators on a handful of measures to reduce youth violence.
After striking out in the Colorado legislature, Tom and others turned their focus to the November election and pushed for a ballot measure to close the gun show loophole in Colorado instead. Amendment 22 ultimately passed with of the vote.
After that, the movement Mauser was a part of largely dissolved.
Back then, he says that a lot of people felt as though the goal had been achieved. They moved on.
鈥淭oday, it鈥檚 just so different because of social media,鈥� Mauser said. 鈥淚 think that in 1999 when students reacted, it was just out of shock and fear and just a general, 鈥極h my God.鈥� And here it is 20 years later and they鈥檙e saying, 鈥楤ut wait a minute, this is still happening. This is part of us now too.鈥欌��
Mauser says seeing a new generation of students speak out for gun control is exciting for him. Sometimes he wonders if his son Daniel had survived, if he would be part of the activism.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 really have that back in 1999. But their voices are so strong and they reacted so quickly,鈥� Mauser said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so encouraging for me to see that happen.鈥�
The conversation now, according to Mauser, is more sophisticated: banning bump stocks, passing extreme risk laws 鈥� also known as 鈥渞ed flag鈥� 鈥� laws that allow firearms to be temporarily taken away from someone in crisis. Earlier this month, after passionate debate and disagreement, the Colorado legislature voted to pass such a bill.
鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing so many more options and things that we have to address and our gun laws,鈥� said Mauser. 鈥淎nd of course, we鈥檙e also seeing a lot more resistance in some respects. I think we鈥檙e seeing both more support and yet a stronger resistance than we had back in 1999.鈥�
Activism Today
These days, Mauser feels as though he is passing the torch on to a group of highly motivated young people, many of whom weren鈥檛 even been born in 1999 when the shooting at Columbine High School happened.
Young people like Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg, who got involved after the 2018 shooting at their high school in Parkland, Florida, have amassed millions of followers on Twitter. But there are also many other young people doing similar work in communities across the country.
Twenty-year-old Tay Anderson works at North High School in Denver, Colorado. He鈥檚 also . Anderson advocates for gun violence reduction from two perspectives: wanting to keep kids safe in schools and wanting to keep communities safe.
鈥淚n 2016, on my birthday, 鈥� July 5 鈥� Philando Castile was murdered,鈥� said Anderson. 鈥淎nd I got tired of losing unarmed African American males because that could have been me. Trayvon Martin could have been me.鈥�
The Parkland school shooting compounded that feeling. He became president of a youth-led organization called and gave a speech at the last year.
Earlier this year, Anderson lost a former coworker, TJ Cunningham, to gun violence near Denver. Cunningham had been an assistant principal at a school where Anderson worked.
He said the media moved on relatively quickly, and it struck him in sharp contrast to the coverage he had seen of school shootings.
鈥淵ou鈥檒l always remember these names of these schools that have been shot. And we see in a system where when people of color die, it鈥檚 normal,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淏ut when a mass shooting happens, then it鈥檚 our thoughts, our prayers. We have to send help, we have to change laws. We don鈥檛 have laws being changed for us every single day.
A new study published in the American Journal of Medicine said, 38,942 kids in the U.S. were fatally shot between 1999 and 2017. The authors , a steep rise in deaths .
鈥淚t happens everywhere,鈥� said Anderson. 鈥淎nd we have to pay attention to it everywhere because it鈥檚 not just saying Chicago and white suburban areas [that has a gun issue.] It鈥檚 the United States of America that has a gun issue.鈥�
Text and photos by .
This program was produced by 1A鈥檚 Paige Osburn in partnership with the team at . Guns & America is a public media reporting project on the role of guns in American life.
, and contributed to this reporting.
GUESTS
Leigh Paterson, Reporter, 糖心vlog传媒; fellow, Guns & America
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