There are roughly 400 million civilian-owned firearms in the US. On August 27, 2025, one of those firearms was used in the Annunciation Catholic School shooting in Minneapolis. 400 million civilian-owned firearms in the US, and all it took was one to kill 2 kids and injure 17 people. No kid should fear going to school, yet that is the reality for many students in the US. The increasing number of school shootings in the US raises the question: is SHP prepared for a school shooting?
SHP has focused on safety this year, emphasizing practice of the Big Five safety protocols: evacuation; shelter in place; lockdown; secure campus; and drop, cover, and hold on. Assistant Principal for Community Life, Mr. Brian Bell, states, “I hope by the end of this year that all of our students and our educators will know all of these Big Five.”
In the case of an active shooter on campus, SHP is prepared. Bell explains, “We have 24-hour security… [and] quick access to both Atherton, PD, Atherton Menlo Park fire departments,” and “the campus also has gunfire detectors, so if it happened, there’s alarm systems that would go off and automatically notify the right people at the right time.” No school should have to prepare kids for a shooting; it should just be something that doesn’t happen.
While kids must prepare for school shootings in America, other countries have faced problems with gun control and made the change to ensure their citizens and schools are safe from threats of gun violence. In Australia, the Port Arthur Massacre took place in 1996. They immediately banned all guns, unless there was a good reason to own one. Self-defense was not a valid reason, license and registration were required, and private sales were prohibited. There has been only one mass shooting since. In light of successful gun regulation in Australia, one wonders: when will the lives of children become more important than a person’s right to bear arms?
It’s unrealistic to completely ban all guns in the US, but strides could be made to strengthen gun control and limit school shootings. In most places in the U.S., a gun can be obtained legally within hours, no license required. All that is needed is a quick background check and for the person to be over eighteen. However, with stricter background checks, mental health screening, stricter gun laws, and a required license, gun violence in America could be decreased. At a minimum, access to assault rifles should be banned.
Bell remarks, “Who should use and need assault rifles? People who are trying to assault others. That’s pretty much restricted to active duty military.” These weapons can kill many people in a matter of seconds, which is not something normal US civilians should need access to.
SHP is a close-knit community, but that doesn’t mean the school is safe from a shooting. Unfortunately, SHP is one of many schools in the U.S. that has to be ready for a situation that puts lives at risk. The SHP administration is taking steps to ensure people on campus are as safe as possible from threats of active shooters, but it is also up to students to come together. The tragedy at Annunciation Catholic School is a reminder that even one gun can destroy lives in a single moment, and SHP must be ready to protect its students while we hope America will finally take action to prevent future shootings.
We live in a country where children have to prepare for shootings at school. The question isn’t whether SHP is prepared; instead, we should be asking: will America finally make the changes to stop school shootings?
