Sonali Rajan
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sonalirajan.bsky.social
Sonali Rajan
@sonalirajan.bsky.social
professor @teacherscollege @columbia | senior director of research at everytownresearch.org | founding president: https://www.firearmresearchsociety.org/our-team | runner | mom to the best kid
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A (happy!) life update -- so very excited to be stepping into this role at Everytown for Gun Safety and endlessly grateful to my TC/CU family for being so so supportive 💞

www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/202...
TC’s Sonali Rajan Named to Senior Role at Everytown Research
As the nonprofit’s Senior Research Director, Rajan will bring extensive scholarship and leadership expertise in gun violence prevention
www.tc.columbia.edu
Reposted by Sonali Rajan
“What we should be calling for is for our elected officials to use the tools that we know work to render these drills obsolete…. The burdens we are putting on our schools & our kids to prepare for the potential of this kind of violence is, frankly, unacceptable.” — @sonalirajan.bsky.social 🛟
The discourse on active shooter drills, particularly in K-12 schools, is complex. Thank you to Time for this piece, for referencing our recent NASEM consensus study findings, and for including myself and many of my wonderful colleagues in this reporting:

time.com/7331491/less...
How to Make Active Shooter Drills Less Traumatizing
Research shows there are best practices for how to prepare students for active shooters in schools.
time.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:11 PM
The discourse on active shooter drills, particularly in K-12 schools, is complex. Thank you to Time for this piece, for referencing our recent NASEM consensus study findings, and for including myself and many of my wonderful colleagues in this reporting:

time.com/7331491/less...
How to Make Active Shooter Drills Less Traumatizing
Research shows there are best practices for how to prepare students for active shooters in schools.
time.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Sharing our latest paper -- now out in AJPM Focus on the risk of child firearm assault during afterschool hours. This new work was led by the brilliant team at BU and also includes one of my wonderful doctoral students as a co-author as well --

www.ajpmfocus.org/article/S277...
Afterschool Child Firearm Assaults: A Quasi-Experimental Analysis
Firearms injuries are the leading cause of death among children in the United States.1 Most child firearm injuries arise from interpersonal assaults, not accidents or self-harm. Firearm violence surge...
www.ajpmfocus.org
October 30, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Thanks so much to @thetrace.org for their critical reporting. And for including me (and some of my favorite colleagues!) in this piece on active shooter drills:

www.thetrace.org/2025/10/scho...

@everytown.bsky.social @columbiauniversity.bsky.social @teacherscollege.bsky.social
How Do You Prepare Kids for a Possible School Shooting Without Traumatizing Them?
As school shootings have grown more frequent, so too have active shooter drills, becoming routine in 95 percent of American schools
www.thetrace.org
October 29, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Grateful for the opportunity to have been on an episode of the "Measure of Everyday Life" discussing our recent NASEM consensus study (including, what this work entailed and our recommendations/takeaways for K-12 schools across the nation): measureradio.libsyn.com/protecting-o...
October 22, 2025 at 5:24 PM
a few of my favorites from #nokings in nyc yesterday! love our city so much - grateful to every person who showed up here and across the country!
October 19, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Reposted by Sonali Rajan
ZERO arrests in NYC. #NoKings
October 19, 2025 at 1:01 AM
I feel so lucky to be working and collaborating with such a thoughtful and dedicated team @everytown.bsky.social. Our latest -- a new report on arming teachers -- out this morning:

everytownsupportfund.org/press/new-ev...

@teacherscollege.bsky.social @teachersunify.bsky.social
New Everytown Report Confirms Arming Teachers is Not Effective for Preventing School Shootings
Arming Teachers Can Heighten Risks of Unintentional Shootings, Escalate Violence, and Deepen Classroom Inequities with No Evidence of Protective Benefits, According to New Report Case Studies in Iowa,...
everytownsupportfund.org
October 13, 2025 at 1:56 PM
NYC just spectacular this week✨💖
October 10, 2025 at 11:40 AM
So proud of our latest piece, now out in AJPH and co-authored with some of my favorite people:

ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/...
Firearm Violence Prevention in Peril: A Call to Defend Our Public Safety Infrastructure | AJPH | Vol. 115 Issue 11
American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) from the American Public Health Association (APHA)
ajph.aphapublications.org
October 9, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Reposted by Sonali Rajan
What's happening in Chicago is not normal.

The arrest of Alderperson Fuentes is just the latest example of how far Noem and Bovino are willing to go to ignore the rule of law. We must all speak up.
October 7, 2025 at 2:59 PM
We're just a few weeks (!) out from this year's National Research Conference for the Prevention of Firearm-Related Harms - I cannot wait to see so many colleagues/friends in AZ as we bring our research field together to collectively advance critical solutions for gun violence prevention --
October 7, 2025 at 2:08 PM
So proud of my @everytown.bsky.social research team for releasing a new report today on domestic firearm homicide-suicides (and for @19thnews.org for powerful coverage of this difficult and needed work):

19thnews.org/2025/10/fire...
Shooting his partner, then himself: How firearm access fuels domestic violence tragedies
States with strong gun control laws had three times fewer incidents of domestic violence homicide-suicide, according to a report shared exclusively with The 19th.
19thnews.org
October 2, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Looking forward to joining our colleagues at Brady, Giffords, and the Community Justice Action Fund at 12PM ET today to discuss the impacts of the Trump Administration’s policy and funding rollbacks on gun safety progress. Link to register/join is below --

giffords-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: SAFER: The Trump Administration’s Rollback of Gun Safety Progress. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: SAFER: The Trump Administration’s Rollback of Gun Safety Progress. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
giffords-org.zoom.us
September 30, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Sonali Rajan
i love ta-nehisi coates so much
September 28, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Another Monday following a weekend of deadly and devastating shootings in this country. But the thing giving me hope are the many many people working so hard every single day across sectors and disciplines to prevent this violence. Grateful for every person in this work and in this fight.
September 29, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Reposted by Sonali Rajan
What feels like forever ago, I made a starter pack of gun violence prevention activists. Today felt like a good day to dust it off again.

Lots of folks out there doing really powerful work to keep all of us safe from guns.
go.bsky.app/QYwdBGk
September 11, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Reposted by Sonali Rajan
“We are currently governed by a leader indifferent to scientific consensus if it contradicts his political or economic interests, hostile to immigrants and intent on crippling the research universities that embody our collective hope for the future. The menace now is within.”
Opinion | We Are Watching a Scientific Superpower Destroy Itself
www.nytimes.com
September 8, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Reposted by Sonali Rajan
One of the many things I’m doing today is sending postcards to my lawmakers about how critical the CDC Injury Center is to the health of our nation. It must be protected & funded. You can support this effort by calling, emailing, posting.

keepamericasafe.info/events
September 8, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Endlessly proud of our research field and of our Society especially (also - registration for our annual conference is open)! I can’t wait to see so many friends/colleagues from across the nation in AZ this November:
September 8, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Reposted by Sonali Rajan
RFK Jr. went on Fox News today to claim that HHS has had “no successes” in the past 40 years.

I beg to differ.

Figure from Lei et al., NEJM 2020. Link below.
September 7, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Our new piece on mass violence in Psychiatry Research is now out; super grateful to our wonderful post-doc for leading this difficult work (cc: @columbiauniversity.bsky.social @teacherscollege.bsky.social)

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Self- and Other-Harm in Mass Shooters: A Dual-Harm Analysis
Research suggests that individuals engaging in both self- and other-harm (viz., dual-harm) face increased risks of negative outcomes compared to those…
www.sciencedirect.com
September 8, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Reposted by Sonali Rajan
Wednesday's Weather Rating: 10/10

I am at a loss for words. For the first time ever, five straight days with a perfect rating. And it's just like the rest - sunny with high temperatures in the upper 70s, low dew points and a breeze. The vibes are STILL immaculate!!
September 3, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Things that continue to be true in the year of our lord 2025: COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, more guns do not make us safer, Trump is in the Epstein files.
September 3, 2025 at 12:05 PM