Nearly everyone who attends Monte Vista, or any high school in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District has heard of assassins.

For those who haven’t, assassins is a Nerf gun war in which teams of three are pitted against each other and expected to defeat the other team during a one to two week long round. Each student participating has to pay a certain amount of money to play the game and the winning team gets to split those profits. This is a senior only game that has become a tradition at all four high schools in the district.

This game rarely ever runs smoothly. There have always been problems and controversy over the game since the beginning.

This years game commanders; senior David Van Siclen, who has asked to be called “Deep Throat” for historical purposes, senior Kaitlyn Wilkins, and senior Dylan Wilczkowiak have had to take the front of most of the problems.

The biggest problem they’ve had to deal with is arguments between players. The commanders estimate that about 90% of the kills are contested. Van Siclen mentioned that many of the players get very angry over little things and take the game “much too seriously for what it’s supposed to be.” The commander’s try to make the decisions of whether a player is in or out very quickly, although a lengthy discussion is occasionally required.

Most adults are worried about other assassins-related problems.. Heather Slipka, an English teacher at Monte Vista, thinks it’s a great bonding experience for seniors, however she is concerned about the drama it creates, especially over Twitter. Her biggest concern is created when cars become involved, like people chasing after each other.

“I just don’t want something tragic to happen before people look at the safety concerns,” Slipka said.

She also said that players should be aware that not everybody is aware of the game or comfortable with teenagers walking around with Nerf guns.

The office has already received multiple phone calls from concerned parents. The people who answer these phone calls have had to explain that assassins is not a school-sanctioned event.

Most parents are concerned id assassins is legal or not. Considering recent controversy over a teenager shot and killed in Santa Rosa because he was holding a pellet gun that looked very real, this is a valid concern.

“The idea of our teens in the community joining together and challenging each other in a competitive format provides them with the opportunity to have fun,” Officer Roderick, Monte Vista’s campus police officer, said. “The ‘fun’ can cause problems when situations arise with participants trespassing on homeowners property, when guns are altered to look real, or laws are broken; ie. speeding, loitering, or disturbing the peace. Though the department does field complaint calls every year during the event, we do our best to inform the public of the game and educate participants on consequences of their actions.”

All students should take this as a fair warning, but also know that Officer Roderick loves the idea of assassins. He said that if it were allowed, he and his partner at San Ramon Valley High, Officer Richards, would like to form their own team and compete with the students.

Despite the various controversies, juniors Claire Desilva and Ryan Racioppo look forward to playing next year.

“I’d love to be the commander because it’s really interesting to make the rules and I don’t mind the controversy,” Desilva said.

“I think it’s a great way for seniors to end their high school careers with a bang.” Racioppo said.