This study aims to examine the effectiveness of the United States Anti-Bullying Legislations in preventing, minimizing, and eliminating bullying in secondary schools in instances where shootings have occurred and maintaining student accountability. This researcher considered how applying the social learning and criminal justice deterrence theories could help legislators and local policymakers shape laws and policies to serve schools more effectively in bullying prevention and accountability issues. Bullying is a challenge that impacts the lives of billions of children globally. School bullying disrupts the learning process and harms students, the school, and the community at large. Bullying in schools has overlapped with other forms of aggressive behavior, such as school shootings. Clearly articulated and implemented school policies and procedures can provide expectations, keep students and school staff safe, and ensure that students receive a good education in an environment conducive to learning. This study performed an in-depth inquiry of secondary school shootings of all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia ABLs using U.S. Department of Education-identified key legislative and policy components. The four U.S. state ABLs that covered all of DOE's elements were further analyzed to determine if school shootings had occurred within two years prior and or after that state enacted ABLs. The research question regarding the role ABLs play in preventing bullying in secondary schools requires future in-depth analysis. Problems stem from studying U.S. state ABLs as a collective unit due to the lack of consensus on the definition of bullying and bullying requirements inclusive of accountability measures. There is a need for a unified description of bullying, compatible state ABLs and continued future work on preventing bullying through scholarship and policymaking. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]