This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at cpr.org.
Colorado has seen 25 incidents of gunfire on school campuses since 2013, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a national gun violence prevention organization.
But the state’s experience with school violence stretches back much further. The 1999 attack at Columbine High rocked the state — as well as the nation — and continues to shape Colorado’s approach to student violence.
Colorado has developed a network of laws, reporting systems and mental health programs aimed at stopping violence before it happens.
In 2004, in the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre, the state launched Safe2Tell as a statewide bystander reporting system. The program is built on the idea that early intervention saves lives and that young people often talk about their plans before hurting themself or others.
Today, Safe2Tell provides students, parents, school staff, and community members with an anonymous way to report safety concerns via an app, text message and hotline. The program also offers technical assistance to schools before and after tragic events, along with outreach campaigns that encourage youth to break the code of silence and report their concerns.
In addition to Safe2Tell, the state also has an Office of School Safety that oversees many of Colorado’s school-based prevention strategies, including mental health programs and emergency planning.
Colorado also offers limited free counseling sessions to all youth under the age of 18 through the I Matter program.
Several recent initiatives were backed by legislative measures, including the creation of a crisis response unit, the Colorado School Safety Resource Center, and the implementation of trauma-informed drills to reduce the mental toll on students as they train for potential violence.
Jacki Kelley with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office praised the quick lockdown response at Evergreen High School by both teachers and students, saying it likely saved lives as the attack unfolded.
“He would fire and reload, fire and reload, fire and reload. This went on and on. And as he did that, he tried to find new targets,” she said. “He came up against a roadblock on many of those doors. He couldn't get to those kids.”
Gun Laws Targeting Violence
Beyond school-specific programs, Colorado lawmakers have passed a series of laws aimed at reducing access to firearms among people at risk of violence.
- Universal background checks for all gun sales.
- Extreme Risk Protection Orders (red flag law) allowing courts to temporarily remove guns from those deemed dangerous.
- Safe storage requirements to keep firearms out of the hands of children.
- Restrictions on domestic abusers and violent offenders possessing guns.
- Raising the minimum purchase age for all firearms and ammunition to 21 (the change to ammunition sales takes effect next year).
- A new permit requirement for many weapons that use detachable magazines, passed in 2025 and set to take effect in 2026.
Despite these efforts, experts point to gaps that make consistent prevention of gun violence on school campuses difficult.
Colorado established an Office of Gun Violence Prevention to study the effectiveness of anti-violence strategies and disseminate best practices. But implementation of threat assessment and mental health support varies widely by school district, and many schools are understaffed in mental health roles like psychologists and social workers.
Heather Martin, a Columbine massacre survivor and co-founder of the Rebels Project, told CPR News that funding for mental health services after a mass violence event like this often runs out while survivors are still dealing with the trauma.
“In Columbine, our funding dissolved within three years,” Martin said. “So I think that being more trauma-informed as a society has gotten a little bit better, but providing resources in the long run needs to be on the priority list.”
Martin said in the coming weeks and months, the best thing people can do for the survivors of the Evergreen shooting is to listen without judgment.
“Survivors are very hard on themselves. In my experience, I came up with all kinds of ways to minimize my trauma and minimize my experience. Like, ‘Oh, I wasn't in this room,’ which is where everything happened. ‘I didn't see this. I didn't know the people.’ I think that's normal for survivors to do that, but I think it gets dangerous when it's reinforced by other people, because that's when you start to question yourself. You hesitate reaching out for help because you feel like you don't deserve it or you don't belong in a group of survivors. So it can lead to some pretty dangerous places.”
If you need help, dial 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also reach the Colorado Crisis Services hotline at 1-844-493-8255 or text “TALK” to 38255 to speak with a trained counselor or professional. Counselors are also available at walk-in locations or online to chat.
